


The Fate of Maxine Caulfield

by MadReader



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Additional Characters to be added, Alternate Universe - ISOT, F/F, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-16
Updated: 2016-03-06
Packaged: 2018-05-07 03:17:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 25,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5441474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MadReader/pseuds/MadReader
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Caught between two sadistic choices, before she could make the decision that would seal her fate, Maxine Caulfield finds herself back with Chloe again, when they were teens, at the day of William's death…and she doesn't know what to choose.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello guys and gals, this is my new fic that I have come up with.
> 
> For those that never heard about a ISOT, the concept isn't complicated take a character or a group of characters, an army or even an entire country of any time (be it fiction or real life) and send it to the future, past or to another universe, because of..."reasons".
> 
> CDA or Salamon2 (for those who know him on Fanfiction and AO3) has a quote that is fitting:
> 
> 'The point of an ISOT is to explore how the characters cope with such an event disrupting their lives & how would they interact with their new environment, and less of exploring why the event took place. As such, expect a lot of character feels as the story progress.'
> 
> Part of this fic was taken in inspiration of his fic "Begin Again" of the series "The Return of The Direwolves", it is an amazing fic, one which, was the reason I was introduced to ISOT's.
> 
> If you wish to read Salamon2's fic too, you can read on this link http://archiveofourown.org/works/1442455/chapters/3034276
> 
> However it contains spoilers of all the books of Asoiaf, if you don't wish to be spoiled, I suggest you to read the books first.
> 
> I hope you guys and gals will like it.
> 
> So go ahead, praises, constructive criticisms or any questions are more than welcome :D

" _We are awesome!"_

" _We totally are!"_

She couldn't forget those words no matter how much she tried, she was in the bathroom looking at her younger self at the mirror, thinking,  _what happened?_ Why she was back with Chloe again when they were teens five years ago? That didn't make any sense.

_I was in the lighthouse when_ _Chloe said that I could choose to sacrifice her_ _, then suddenly everything became white and...oh dog, not another_ _**nightmare** _ _!_

It could be another nightmare but...everything looked the same, nothing bizarre was happening, with exception of her waking up, jumping with Chloe up and down screaming from the top of her lungs that they were "totally awesome".

_Then maybe everything is going to fade to light? And I am going to return and choose between...no,no,no, NO! Fuck this, why I need to make this decision? Why I have to lose her? I...you what? Love her? So what? Is she even going to forgive you for letting her mother die?_

Max was very close to have a meltdown in that bathroom, she couldn't choose, how was she supposed to anyway? Could she even make this choice?  _Is Chloe even supposed to die? I am the one who is fucking with time and space, I should be the one that...wait, maybe, maybe there is another way._

The more she thought about it, the more it made sense,  _If I wasn't so chickenshit_ _Chloe would have made it, and the storm would never have come,_   _but...god,_ _Chloe is going to blame herself_   _for this for the rest of her life, she already thinks she is alone, this isn't fair, this is bullshit! She doesn't deserve to feel alone, fuck!_

_She...she still has Joyce and David, they can help her._

_Maybe she will get over it and...she will forget me...okay Max, stop being so fucking chickenshit, you can do it, just a few more seconds, then, this can finally end, I am just going to fulfill my fate._

Max was just waiting after that point, everything made sense now, Chloe could live without her, she had to, Max was the one that was supposed to die, it was time to be a real hero,  _just a few more seconds…_

She just closed her eyes thinking.

_Chloe I am so sorry...I love you._

Then Chloe knocked.

"Hey Max! Are you okay dude? You are inside there for the last 20 minutes, you want some help?"

She opened her eyes and it was then that Max thought that something was very wrong here, there is no way that she could have stayed more than a few minutes, every time she used her photos, she managed to stay there for 5, 10 minutes at maximum, and then everything started to fade to white.

Actually, she never used  _that_ photo in the first place, she burned it just to avoid being here ever again, so how was she even here in the first place?

_I shouldn't even be here._

"Max, if you don't open this door I am totally breaking it down."

_Shouldn't you? What is the other option then?_

_I don't know alright! But…_

"Have it your way then!"

Max quickling unlocked the door before her friend broke her arm trying to break it.

"One, two..."

"Just a second Chloe!"

"Too late! Three!"

Max opened the door and she was knocked out by a laughing mess of blonde hair.

"Holy dog! That was awesome! Hey, why are crying Max?"

"Uh, nothing, just..."

"Oh no, you are not running away from me now Caulfield, we are talking about this, you are acting so weird ever since dad took that picture,  
 what happened man?"

"Can we not talk about this, I am good, I promise."

"Yeah right, so those tears are for happiness, Mad-Max?"

_What do I tell her?_

Chloe just raised her left eyebrow clearly not believing in her, but before she could give her opinion about Max's sad state,  
William and Joyce were just back home.

"Hello girls, want to give me some help with the groceries?" Joyce voice could be heard from downstairs.

"Can you wait some minutes mom? I am talking something important with Max."

"It's just a few minutes sweet pea, and if you are fast enough we may share this delicious ice cream I just bought for myself."

"Us Bill."

"Of course honey just for the two of us."

"No way! Come on Max it's ice cream we can talk about this later."

"But."

"No but's, let's go."

And there they went, Chloe dragging Max downstairs to help and later get some ice cream, even though it was impossible for her not smile at her friend's happiness, she still couldn't stop thinking.

_What about the storm?_


	2. Chapter 2

Usually, Chloe’s days were, in a certain sense, normal.

Or as normal as a teenager her age should have, but Max, her Best Friend Pirate Forever, her first mate, was acting...weird.

No, that wouldn’t be the right word here, she was always a bit weird in her own sweet, shy way; Max was looking _utterly mad_ , giving justification to her cool new name , that Chloe had come up with, after such weird day with her best friend, she would be known from this day forward as ‘ _Mad Max’_ , but, even if the name was really cool, she was worried for her friend.

They were all sitting at the table, eating their ice cream, with Max and Chloe sharing theirs.

It was a custom for both girls to buy each’s other their favorite ice cream, Max’s was strawberries and Chloe’s Chocolate, they eat it a bit then switch it, then eat it a bit more and finally, they would switch one last time and finished each’s other ice creams.

It was traditional, almost religious for Chloe and her to share everything, from food to games, music, to their deepest secrets… Which is why she was so concerned now for Max, if it was just that jumping, then okay she could leave it at that, nose bleeding...weird, but she would guess that she is like those anime characters that nosebleed constantly, when they see a cute boy...or a girl.

_But she locked herself in that bathroom and she was_ **_crying_ ** _about something, and she doesn't even tell me WHY, she thinks I didn’t hear her, but I did, something about some asshole forcing her to make a choice or some bullshit like that._

_If someone made her cry, I am_ _gonna find that asshole_ _and_ _I am gonna beat that asshole_ _until he begs to Max for me to stop._

“Is everything alright sweetie?” Her mother asked Max. Mom’s concern was evident, her instinct told her that something wasn’t right with the brunette, her dad however was concentrated in savoring the taste of the greatness that was _his_ chocolate ice cream, and apparently was not aware of the urgency.

“I am fine Joyce, thanks. “

Mom didn't buy that, Max was sometimes quiet, that was true, however she was never _so_ contemplative about stuff, that she would be completely shut down from the entire world.

Her Mom wouldn’t stop asking questions, trying to help Max, who was her second daughter in her eyes, and a sister to Chloe’s.

“Are you sure dear?”

“Yes, I am good.”

“Don’t you like your ice cream?”

“I do…”

“Maybe she has a fever mom?”

“No, just a headache.” Max answered her question, so mom gave her a pill.

It was a non-stop barrage of endless questions about Max’s state of mind and health.

Chloe and quite frankly, her mother, were getting more worried and nervous the more Max kept distancing herself from them, but before they could investigate deeper into the cause of this issue, her dad decided to intervene.

“Come on hun. You and Chloe are asking Max questions non-stop for the last hour, why don't you two let her eat her ice cream in peace?”

Mother and daughter didn’t agree with his suggestion.

“Bill, you know that…”

“We are just trying to help dad!”

“Guys, I am okay, swear to dog.”

 _Yeah Max, you are okay, after all you were just jumping up and down with me screaming that ‘We are awesome!’,_ _only to start getting nosebleed_ _,_ _running to the bathroom and locking it only to then bring you out of the bathroom by force while seeing_ _you were crying your eyes out?_ **_That’s totally the_** **_definition of normal! You totaaaally not going..._**

“…Besides, whatever problems that Max and Chloe are having I am sure that they can resolve them _together.”_

Chloe snapped out of her thoughts and realized that her dad was still speaking.

“Honey you are…right…in fact, girls, why don’t you two go to your room?”

“Wait mom, why…”

“I think you two would prefer to finish each’s other's ice cream upstairs, _right?_ ” her dad added with a wink.

Chloe knew that her parents had planned something, and they were going to discuss this alone, she just hoped that they would include their daughter in the secrecy.

“Alright…let’s go Max?”

“Sure...”

“And no need to come downstairs, you two go have some fun…and you, Bill, are not eating all this ice cream alone, _are you?_ ”

“You mean _my…_ ”

“Yes, _o_ _ur_ ice cream, a real gentleman would divide his ice cream with his wife.”

Chloe, with Max right behind her, have gone upstairs before the _chill_ dispute over who had the right to eat the ice, could escalate to _colder levels_ , _man, this pun is so cold. Chloe, you have to share this one with Maxaroni!_

Inside their room Chloe quickly closed the door, while Max was _l_ ooking around Chloe's room with a spaced-out, glazed look in her eyes.

She decided that it was time for her to snap Max out of it.

“So…Max? Maxaroni? Earth to Max Caulfield? Maaax...” she was shaking her arm to no effect, for two minutes calling her all the names she could think of, yet… _No Answer,_ _she was really out of it._

It wasn’t really uncommon for her friend to space out once in a while, but she would usually either wake up by herself or she would call upon Max and touch her arm and she would wake up immediately after.

 _“Maxine?_ Damn, you hate it when I call you that, what do I do now?”

_Maybe I should kiss her? She would hate that, like those disney movies where the princess wakes up after the prince does that...for some reason._

“Well...I am out of options here, okay, a kiss on the cheek would resolve it right?”

_God, this idea is so stupid._

Getting closer to her, and awkwardly fearing for her friend's reaction (which would likely be _very bad_ , as Chloe was close of pecking Max…)

Max suddenly moved her eyes to Chloe’s and she freezed when they locked their eyes...Max wasn’t just looking at her _…it is like she looking inside me, deeper, like...beyond me?_

The more she was getting close to her, the more it felt like she was in some sort of trance, _why she is looking at me like that?_

She was a few centimeters from her face now, trying to see what she was seeing, feel what she was feeling.

“Chloe...what are you doing?” Which was the perfect time for Max to wake up.

“Aw!! Max! Stop! scaring me like this!”

“But I didn't…”

“You were spacing out for the last 5 minutes thinking god knows what, you are acting soooo damn weird, first your nose starts bleeding, then you start jumping up and down saying ‘we are awesome!’ Then you start bleeding again, you were crying in the bathroom, and you don’t even tell me why! Your pirate sister!”

“Chloe. I am…”

“Was it something I did? Are you angry because I made that drawing on your face when you were sleeping yesterday? Or because of that time... “

Chloe was mentioning any possible reason for Mad Max being Mad at her best friend. _Why are you sad dude?_ _And why don’t you tell me?_

“Chloe! I...I am not mad at you, _I. Am. Fine.”_

“You aren’t! And won’t even tell me why!”

“Because everything is…”

“Not fine! Who did this to you? If it wasn’t me, then _who?_ ”

“No one! Why can’t you just believe me?”

“Because you are lying to me.”

_Time to play rough then…_

“And since you don’t want to tell me the truth...I am leaving you to your thoughts.”

“Chloe…”

“Goodbye Maxine.”

Turning around she opened the door and was going downstairs smiling and thinking s _he would totally tell me the truth in the next hour._

Unfortunately for the grinning blonde, she forgot just one thing, something that her friend tried to warn her…

“Chloe wait!”

_Wow! That was fast, didn't even took..._

...That her skateboard was still at end of the stairs, and she accidentally tripped on it.

Chloe didn't even had time to scream, the surprise and the fall were too fast for her to acknowledge at that time.

She hit her head hard at the railing of the stairs…

She heard loud voices…

“CHLOE!!”

“Honey we need to call an ambulance!”

...But the last thing she would see or think was Maxine Caulfield, looking from the stairs, her eyes a _fire_ she never saw in her before, a _rage_ that would scare grown men and women…

 _“Max...”_ she tried to call her.

_With tears in her eyes and showing a determination that could challenge even a god or gods, Maxine Caulfield raised her hand…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello guys and gals, I hope you like this, and I wanted to thank everybody who read it, comment it, bookmarked and left kudos, thanks guys :)


	3. Chapter 3

Max

Max was in one of her famous moments, at the dinner table with Chloe and her parents. She was spacing out, thinking about something, closed to almost anything and everything. Normally, when this happens she would just wake up alone and confused, or someone would just call her out or touch her arm to snap her out of her trance-like state.

She was hoping that the Price's would see this as just another one of her normal episodes...unfortunately for Max, it was anything but normal. She took her case and dialed it up to eleven. After all, any other normal human being wouldn't completely enter in an almost catatonic state suddenly and hope that others _wouldn't just freak the fuck out._ Unfortunate for Max, this was exactly her case, although, she did not realize it.

Of course, living the best and worse week that never was, a dream and a nightmare of equal proportions, tends to do funny things with someone's mind. Most would have just lost it at this point or become something twisted and deformed.

An abomination of life itself.

However, Max Caulfield wasn't named a _Caulfield_ for nothing, her family was famous for being stubborn beyond reasoning with certain things in life. So much so that, some members of her family even died because of it, she wouldn't become twisted or deformed as long as she had something to fight for, something to _live_ for.

Max didn't know if she wasn't an abomination. However, she defied logic, reality, the laws of God or Gods, men and women, life and death, the entire universe, for the ones she loved, " _I challenged time itself for Chloe, always for her…"_

Joyce and Chloe were asking questions, if she was well, if she wanted to talk, she always gave the same answers, a generic one.

" _I am okay..."_ but it was far from the truth. She wasn't okay, she didn't know if she could become the same again for anyone anymore, _My parents wouldn't even recognize me...yet, I have to act like nothing has happened, "The Irish luck, right Chloe?" But...I don't want this to be a nightmare or a dream, I want this to be real, I want this._

_Which is why I can't fuck this up, I can't use my powers anymore, maybe that was the reason why this whole mess started in the first place._

It was a theory at best, one that popped into Max's mind thanks to Warren's wild guess at the diner, her powers would be the cause of the storm and she would be the solution to that problem. All she needed to do, was to never use her powers again...at the bathroom, where Chloe was shot and she rewound for the first time.

Max hoped that she was right, because the last options for her were:

1- Letting Chloe get shot, which was easier said than done. Max would rather take the bullet herself, rather than to let her best friend to die alone, at her lowest point in life in a fucking dirty bathroom.

2- Let Arcadia Bay be destroyed by the storm. If she did that...Chloe would never forgive her. How could she, if Max wouldn't be able to forgive herself either, and neither of them wanted this. Max had friends that she cared for, and Chloe had her mother and she did _care_ for David. If only for Joyce's sake, she wanted him to live too no matter what.

Max didn't like these options. She came up with her own theory. _Her own option_. She thought to herself "If the universe wanted its pound of flesh, let it be me. I will not sacrifice Chloe. No fucking way" Which is why she thought about taking the shot herself in the bathroom to save Chloe. It was the only option that she could and would take.

Max was willing to do that, if it meant saving them all. it made sense to her that she had to die, like some sort of karmic justice for having that week with Chloe, _I had my time with her, I had done what I wanted, I was at her side, I had my fun, I said goodbye, it was time to put this to an end._

_I had everything I ever wanted, how many people can say the same, that they had died for someone they loved? For their best friend? I could._

_I wanted to be at Chloe's side so much, but if the price to save them all is, well, me, it would have been a fair price I...I can't believe I just made a pun with this._

But she didn't have that option anymore, apparently she was going to stay with Chloe as a teen. She couldn't pretend to be an "Everyday Hero" anymore and die a "hero's death".

 _I am going to be a teenager again...what the fuck._ not that she could complain that much. After all she saved William and Chloe was happy, and if Chloe was happy, Max was happy too.

Besides, if she played her cards right, Max could save them all, _maybe if I stop using my rewind, the storm will never come. After that, I have to talk with my parents, I need to try and convince them to stay here, I could talk with them and if this doesn't work I could try…_

"Bill, you know that…"

"We are just trying to help dad!"

Max just remembered that they were still asking her questions, not that she paid much attention to their questions, or her answers. _Are they still talking about this?_

"Guys, I am okay, swear to dog." _This should resolve it._

It didn't resolve it at all, Max looked at Chloe's face with absolute disbelief but she didn't care though. She had to plan her next moves carefully.

_I can't depend on my rewind anymore, if I use it again, I don't know what could happen next, what if the trees start to burn if I try? Or the sea turns black or...wait, can I even rewind? I still haven't tried, maybe I have lost it?_

She didn't know that and didn't want to. Those "powers" or "gifts" or even worse..." _curses"_ only brought her problems, she only destroyed people's lives with it and Max's only option now was to stop its use for good.

Even if it helped her to save lives like Kate's, _it isn't worth it, I can't and I won't._

It was her decision, she sworn to never used them again, and she would stick with that decision, no matter what.

Everything looked right, almost perfect, Chloe was with her, her dad was alive and breathing...but something wasn't right, not the fact that they were alive but the fact that she was there with them in the first place.

_What happened at the lighthouse?_

Now that she wasn't panicking and was absolutely sure that she would stay in this timeline, Max tried to remember what happened, before she somehow managed to be back with Chloe again when they were kids, when everything was right, when they were happy, _when she was happy…_

_Did I do this? Am I that powerful? I barely stop time to save Kate and that almost killed me._

Max remembered that she had to take a decision at the lighthouse, Chloe said that they had to save their town, Max had looked at the butterfly photo, she had to do something with it, but she didn't know what. _Would I have let the storm take Arcadia Bay? Chloe didn't want to die, I know this...but she didn't want to be responsible for her mother, or even David, or anyone else's death. she wanted to live and be with me, but she would be the hero if she had to. Why couldn't she just shut up for once? Why did she had to be the hero?_

 _Would I have said no to her at the lighthouse?_ That was one of the questions that wouldn't stop nagging her. She already knew what she would have done if the choice was between sacrificing Chloe or Arcadia Bay… She would have flipped both of them off and choose herself, a defiance against everything. Nobody said that she couldn't make _her_ third option, _her own..._

_**What if you couldn't make a third option? If it was between her or the town, who could you say no to? If It might come to that choice again, what would you do then...** _

"…Max?" Chloe had took her hand and they were going upstairs, she didn't know what they were going to do later, it didn't matter, they were together now, _Chloe and Max, Cheese and Maxaroni, together and back in action._

_Like we should always have...before I fucked that up._

She remembered that day like it was yesterday, when William died, Max talked with her parents to stay in Arcadia Bay, but they explained to her why they couldn't, it was an opportunity that couldn't be lost; she argued. She screamed against such injustice...but in the end, they got their opportunity and she lost hers and _I left her...when she needed me, when Chloe needed me the most._

It wasn't her parents fault though, _If I just insisted more, or...or just talked with Chloe once, just_ _ **fucking once**_ _,_ _in those freaking_ _**five years**_ _I wouldn't have lost her, she wouldn't have felt so alone, she wouldn't have being_ _ **shot!**_ _and when Nathan drew that gun, if only I just got out from behind that stall, why couldn't I have grown a spine! And made him shoot me instead? All this mess wouldn't have happened and she would have made it at least._

_Even with her dad alive I still left her, she wasn't alone, but I still wasn't there for Chloe, what fuck is wrong with me?! That I leave her behind every fucking time!_

" _Maxine?"_

She was hearing something, _a voice?_ She didn't know, Max raised her eyes for a minute, just for a minute, she could have believed that she was with Chloe at the lighthouse again...and it was then that she remembered what Chloe said to her, what Max had to choose at the lighthouse, _who had to die_ …

" _Max you are the only one who can."_

She hugged her as strongly as her weak arms could, and in that moment, she knew what fate had reserved for them but it wasn't what Max wanted to do.

_Chloe why? Why I have to choose?_

She looked at her eyes then, those blue eyes were looking at her and she could look at herself in them, and the only thing she saw was...a monster, something twisted, eyes red with blood, madness and blood were all she could see, the town came in mind, and she feared that she already knew her answer. She should be scared of what she would become because of her choice, _and_ _what would Chloe think?_

Chloe was getting closer now, and Max felt...peace, for the first time since she came back to her, that blonde hair was so…so...

Wait...blonde hair?

She was realizing that she wasn't at the lighthouse with a certain pain in the ass, punk bluenette, she was with a 14 years old pain in the ass, blondie pirate Chloe, her best...everything, and she was going to kiss her.

Max was using all her willpower to not kiss her, because if she let her...she wouldn't stop at a kiss on the cheek, _I would hug her, I wouldn't let her go, I would cry my eyes out, saying how sorry I was for everything I did, I would swear to be the friend she deserves and I would say how much she means to me._

_And I would have to rewind that._

That was probably the greatest challenge to her promise to not use her rewind again. But she would stand her ground.

Needless to say, she was wrong.

"Chloe...what are you doing?"

The blonde gave a small scream of surprise, probably hoping that the brunette wouldn't catch her.

"Aw! Max! Stop! Scaring me like this!"

"But I didn't…"

Chloe wouldn't let her finish however, describing how weird and mad she was acting in those last two hours, she couldn't really say that she wrong however, she was acting quite mad.

"Chloe. I am…"

"Was it something I did? Are you angry because I made that…"

And now she managed to make her think she was guilty, _great Max, you really have the tact._

"Chloe! I...I am not mad at you, _I. Am. Fine." Please can you just let that go?_

"You aren't! And won't even tell me why!"

"Because everything is…"

"Not fine! Who did this to you? If it wasn't me, then _who?_ "

"No one! Why can't you just believe me?" _I know why you can't believe me, but could you just leave this behind us? Please? Nothing bad is going to happen to us now._

"Because you are lying to me."

"And since you don't want to tell me the truth...I am leaving you to your thoughts."

"Chloe…" _Are you hella cereal? You really think this is going to make me spill the beans?_

"Goodbye Maxine."

Max knew that Chloe was trying to play with her, make her feel guilt so that she could tell her the truth later, and frankly...that tactic did work sometimes. She was never any good at lying to Chloe, _but I am not that easy anymore_ she thought that part with a smile as she was going after her cunning friend, _but I have to think of something to tell her later, she isn't going to believe me if I don't come up with something to tell…_

In that moment Max froze up when she saw Chloe's skateboard at the end of the stairs...and Chloe's feet was on it.

"Chloe wait!"

It was like seeing everything in slow motion, from the moment that Chloe was just laughing around until she fell down the stairs and hit her head hard at the railing of the stairs.

She screamed thinking _Why!? Why does this has to happen? Can't something go right for once?_ _ **Just for once?!**_

Chloe looked bad from here, she was barely moving at all, she was either passing out or...or... _dead I can't...I can't...I have to do something._

_But, maybe she...she is going to be okay? She won't die now, she can't, that didn't happen last time...but...but what if she doesn't? What do I do then? what if…_

_..._ _**She dies, so what?** _

_Who...who is this?_

Her mind was in a civil war of the worse degrees yet to date. A part of her wanted to save Chloe no matter what...but another part knew what the consequences could be if she had continued to make use of her rewind, and that part was fighting tooth and nail to stop her from using it again, to make her to keep her promise.

_**I am you dumbass, you didn't answer my question before, so you can go ahead, we have time, answer me now.** _

_**So what? Is her life worth our town? Are you really going to risk killing all those people, our parents, because of her?** _

_I don't want to hurt nobody, I didn't ask for this...this…_

_**Curse? Yes, we didn't asked for it, but we still have it, we don't have a choice here, you wanted to play around with you cool new powers! All for that punk? Oh wait! It wasn't even for her right? It was because of her! You wanted to save her life so we got this curse, then you decided to be the popular kid too! You wanted to be the hero Max? So you could be worthy of Chloe's friendship then?** _

_She is my friend I..._

_**What a great friend you are Maxine fucking Caulfield! Amirite? Am I Fucking Right?! How many times does she have to die till this can end? is Arcadia Bay the price? Or maybe the world can satisfy you then?** _

_I will have to live with my choice..._

_**Is that what you gonna say to the families of those people when they die? I will have to live with my choice?!** _

_**The Hero of Blackwell? What a joke!** _

_I would have died for her if..._

_**So you decided to die? For her?!**_ _**You are so fucking pathetic, how do we even share the same name? You dare to call yourself a hero? You aren't one! Don't you get it? We don't get the girl at the end!**_

_**All this bullshit, all those deaths, Kate, Joyce, David, Dana, Warren, Juliet, Alyssa, even Victoria fucking Chase! People who deserve to live just as much as her! Even more than her! We deserve to live too!** _

_**Is she even worth it?** _

She looked at Chloe's eyes.

" _Max..."_

She knew her answer then, she had doubts, about herself, about her powers, about her own worthiness…but she didn't have any doubt about what she wanted.

_Yes._

_**What?** _

_She is worth everything, more than this town, more than all of our friends, more than my parents, and even more than us!_

_**Are you cereal?! You gonna kill us all because of her? Because you want to fuck that blue haired punk so much?!** _

She didn't dignify the question with an answer.

She wanted Chloe. Happy and _alive_ , it didn't matter if she left her later...or even forgot her and move on to some new friend, _as long as she is happy, I am happy too._

She was raising her hand and all the while she was hearing the Max from the diner screaming and cursing at her trying to stop her.

_**Don't you fucking dare! You have no right to kill them because of her! Don't do this!** _

_Who is going to stop me? You? A piece of my fucked up mind? Some god? Or gods? Maybe the universe? Let them, no one's going to stay my hand…_

_**You psycho bitch! Don't you dare...** _

She raised her hand…and everything was silence, she would feel guilty, she would risk becoming a monster by destroying the lives of an entire town.

But she would never regret her choice from this day forward, because in the end, Chloe Elizabeth Price was her hero, the one in the stories, the same ones where the hero dies a heroic death for the right thing, for the ones she loved.

Chloe would have risked her own life to save their town, a plan that she didn't even know if it would have _worked or not,_ she wanted to live, she was _terrified_ of dying, of not having her best friend at her side anymore. She would have been forgotten, she wouldn't even remember that week with Max, nobody would have remembered her...only Max would know the hero that Chloe was, how much she was truly worth.

That was what it meant to do the _right thing._

That was _true sacrifice_.

That was what it meant to be a real _everyday hero...everything that I am not, I am not the hero of this story...I never was, Chloe is the hero._

 _She was right, only I could make this choice...but I would never consider this option if she hadn't said that, if she just kept quiet, I would have watched Arcadia Bay be_ _**obliterated** _ _by that storm, I would feel guilty for this, for the rest of my life...but I would never consider to sacrifice her._

_Is Arcadia Bay, the entire world, the price? Yes, For Chloe I am willing to do worse, I will do worse if I must, and I won't regret it._

_She deserves much more than to die at a_ _**fucking bathroom alone!**_

_And if my life alone can't pay the price for hers, I will be the monster to protect her…_

_Chloe is the hero of this story and heroes usually die...but I am not the hero and she is deserves much more than a hero's death_ _**.** _

Everything was slowly coming back, Chloe was coming back from her fall, she was coming back at the stairs, _back to me._

_And if some entity wants Chloe dead so much, it's going to have to kill me first, and I would like to see it try._

She stopped just before when Chloe's feet was on the skate.

"Max?"

And without any hesitation, Max grasped her hand and pulled her back to her arms before both falling to the ground.

Max was on the ground with Chloe in her arms.

"Wow! What the hell Max?"

"You almost fell down the stairs you dork!"

"What you talking about I..." Chloe stopped when she looked at what Max was pointing to her.

"Your feet. Plus you skate. Equals death at stairs. Idiot."

"Guess your Caulfield senses were turned up to the Max?" Chloe just gave Mad Max, her best dork a smile...Max wasn't going to let that slide however.

"Chloe Elizabeth Price! You could have died you dork!"

"Sorry Max, I didn't mean to scare…"

"You think I can lose you now? What do you think Joyce or William would do if you hit your head at the railing? You could have died!"

"Max I..."

"I can't freaking lose you Chloe! I can't, can't...I..I..I..."

"Max, come on, everything's alright, calm down, please Max!"

"You, you can't leave me, pleaseee...I..."

"Chloe! What is happening upstairs?" Joyce's voice could be heard from downstairs.

"Max isn't looking good mom! Max! I am not leaving you, why are you crying? Please? You can tell me."

"I...I...I don't want to lose you..."

" _Who_ is making you lose me?"

"Vanessa I will call you later, I think Max already knew, are you sure that this is the right..."

"Honey you can finish your call first, I am going to help Max."

"Thank you Bill...Ness, your daughter is just crying upstairs! For the love of..."

Max was passing out, she couldn't breath, she almost lost her so many times... _you died so many times, I can't lose you, I can't,_ _ **and I won't lose you anymore!**_

"Dad! We need to help her!"

"I am here sweetie, Max? Can you hear me? Is everything alright...Max?"

Everything was fading to black but she could still hear Chloe calling her name

" _Max!"_

* * *

She was opening her eyes slowly, she could feel Chloe behind her, hugging her as closely as she could.

_Where am I?_

"Chloe...what happened? I..."

"Shh, go back to sleep Spider Max."

"I am better now..."

"You aren't and you should have told me that you parents wanted to make you leave."

"My parents?"

"But I know you didn't mean to lie to me, so I forgive you."

Opening her eyes more, she could see that she was at Chloe's room on Chloe's bed.

"Sorry for freaking you out."

"You don't have to apologize, that's why we are pirate sisters Max, you got my back and I got yours."

"Sisters?"

"Forever."

Max just smiled, she was finally calm, in her friend's arms, she could finally rest a bit this day...actually night.

"Max...about your parents..."

"I won't leave you Chloe."

"I know you don't want to...but we need to plan something if..."

Max turned around and looked deeply into Chloe's eyes.

"I will never leave your side Chloe, my parents won't stop me from being at your side." _Never again._

"You...you promise?"

Max just smiled at the question.

"I hella swear."

"Hella?"

Max hugged her with all the strength her thirteen year old body could muster.

"I Hella promise."

 _I am going to give us the friendship we deserved Chloe, I will be the friend_ _**you** _ _deserve._

"Hella, Hella Max, Hella Chloe, we are hella awesome!" both girls were giggling at the overuse of hellas.

_Oh my dog what have I done…_

"You know Max, we should hella run away together if…"

They heard shouts from outside the door, likely coming from downstairs.

"For the last time Joyce! I already told you why we can't stay!" _Mom?_

"And I am telling you that your daughter isn't in any condition to be leaving! Vanessa, if you just give one look at your daughter..." and _that's Joyce._

"God Joyce, she was fine ten hours ago! How did she even know?"

"I don't know, but we didn't tell her, I promise you that."

Chloe and Max could hear the discussion all the way from Chloe's room.

"Are they still talking about this?"

"What talk?"

"My mom is trying to convince your mom to stay at Arcadia Bay...And I think they are gonna kill each other."

"Why?"

"They are calm now...but mom was quite angry that you already knew and your parents didn't tell them."

"But they didn't tell me..."

"Just give me some minutes, I am gonna tell them to shut up, because you need to sleep."

"Chloe, I...don't want you to leave."

"I promise Max, just give me some minutes, you think you gonna be okay?"

Max didn't want her to leave...but she wanted to know what was happening downstairs and Chloe wouldn't let her leave her room with her.

"I will."

"Okay then."

Chloe was heading for the door and was opening it, but before she left, she turned to Max and said.

"I'll be just some minutes and don't leave this room."

"I won't."

"I am serious Max. Don't leave this room."

"I swear."

"Hella swear?"

"I hella swear." _Of course I will leave this room dork._

"Five minutes." Chloe closed the door.

_Time to get up._

And Max got up, opening the door and carefully stepping on the ground, she could hear the discussion at end of the stairs.

"Can you guys shut up! Max is trying to sleep."

Joyce didn't like Chloe's manners however.

" _Chloe_ , manners young lady."

"But mom, she is trying to sleep."

"I didn't raise you to act like..."

"Joy, it's alright, we need to sleep too, and I need to think about this..." Mom decided to stop them before they managed to start a new discussion.

"Ness, you know that your daughter isn't in any condition to leave."

"Honey calm down. You need to see..." William and her dad were the diplomats for both of their wives, so they could stop them for attacking each other.

"No Bill! I don't need to see her point! Her daughter was just crying upstairs because she didn't want to leave! You saw her pass out! We saw her hugging our daughter for her life because she was _terrorized_ of leaving her for crying out loud! and you still want to tell me..."

"I don't want to do this because I want to leave Joyce, I care about her happiness too, I care about your daughter too, I am not saying they can't see each other again, Chloe can visit her or Max can, if you want, to visit Chloe. Ryan is more than at her disposal when ..."

"That's not the point Vanessa."

"Than what is the point!? You helped us get this chance! Or did you forgot that it was _you_ who told me that we shouldn't waste this chance?"

"Dear you need to calm down."

"No Ryan, I don't need to calm down, you know this was the chance we were looking for in years, this is a chance in a thousand, it is a dream come true for our family."

_It isn't for me._

"It isn't for Max." Chloe voiced her exact thoughts.

"Chloe go back to your..."

"No, let your daughter speak, I never refused to let her speak her mind, she is a grown woman too. "

"I...I don't want Max to leave me Ness, I want to stay with her."

"Sweet pea, you know I think of you as a second daughter, but you can visit her if you wish, I can bring her to visit you too."

"But I don't want to visit her, I want her with me, you said we are like sisters!"

"I...I know dear, but we made our decision I am sorry."

"Can you at least let her sleep here?"

"Of course I would Joyce, you think I would drag her from bed?"

"Ness, I am sorry, I know I said to you and Ryan that you should take this chance, and I am a hypocrite for saying this, but yes, I would have done the same thing...but you didn't saw her, it was like she was going to die if she left her right there.

"Joyce...what I am supposed to do, throw everything in the air?"

"I...I don't know, but she can't leave at this state, not now."

"Maybe we can wait two or even three weeks instead of one, but we can't stay much more than that. "

"Wait! You didn't even ask her if she wants to leave!"

"Chloe that's enough."

"No Mom! Vanessa just said I am a grown woman, but Max isn't?"

"She...she does have a point Ness." Joyce looked surprised at the question but she couldn't say that her daughter was wrong.

"Me and my big mouth...okay sweet pea, can you wake Max for me and ask her to come downstairs to talk with us?"

"Okay, I am calling her."

"Thank you."

Max didn't even need to try, she knew her parent's decision, no matter how much she screamed, they wouldn't leave this chance behind them, they might stay for a few more weeks, but nothing else…

So she decided that she needed to shake them up if she wanted to have a chance to stay with her best friend, it would be a bit...drastic and extreme from her part but...

_...These are desperate times. And I wasn't call the Blackwell ninja for nothing._

Max started to rewind the entire talk, she had a plan built for this situation.

_Don't worry Chloe I won't leave you alone again._


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello my dear readers! I am sorry for taking so long with this chapter, work kinda takes away your free time, but I finally finished this chapter here.
> 
> I can’t promise regular updates, since I take my time writing, I can promise you that I am not stopping, just not regular updates, not with work now, and college coming soon, I will try my best however to give you quality here.
> 
> I am keeping a minimum of 5000 words and a maximum of 10000 words, so no worries, the next chapter won’t have 20000 words XD 
> 
> Thank you everybody who left kudos, bookmarked and is commenting this fic, I am really happy that you guys are liking it.
> 
> And Special thanks for Berserker66666, ShadowDragon8685 and egerke for beta-reading and the support, thank you very much :)
> 
> So before we start with the reviews, I wanted to recommend a fic and a podcast for you guys.
> 
> Life Becomes Ever Stranger: by ShadowDragon8685, a work in progress, is based on the Bae ending, but it does not end here, we see the story progressing forward with more than 200000 words, as Max and Chloe go forward, with company of course. It stands out, since it has more than enough content (and feels, be sure of that) to be measured as a book of quality.
> 
> Link: https://www.reddit.com/r/lifeisstrange/comments/42g85g/ep5_spoilers_life_becomes_ever_stranger_chapter_7/
> 
> Blackwell Podcast: A podcast where they talk about everything in Life is Strange. From Lisa the Plant to the in-depth analysis of game themes and character personalities.
> 
> You probably at this point know about them, since they interviewed the voice of Max Caulfield herself: Hannah Telle, which by the way is an awesome girl, and it is a must hear, if you guys loved Life is Strange and Max, you guys are going to love this.
> 
> Link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkt5McJ1_QNFTbF188rWVYQ
> 
> So without delays, let’s start:

Chloe

 

For the last 3 hours, her parents had called Max’s parents, to warn them that their daughter and Chloe’s best friend not only already knew of their plan to leave Arcadia Bay, but she was the closest thing to what a devastated person could become, which was clear to anyone that her friend wasn’t in any condition of leaving in a week without risking something far, far worse now.

When the Caulfields came, wanting to know what happened with Max, Joyce and Vanessa started a fight about who told Max first, both women accusing each other of telling her, and not handling the situation adequately.

The only reason that it didn't get any worse, was because their husbands, William and Ryan, were there to serve as mediators and to remind both wives that their daughters could hear the shouts from Chloe's room.

Her mother and dad sent Chloe to her room with Max, they knew their daughter well, and if she was there with her parents, she would say to Max’s parents…words that were carefully selected in Chloe Price’s vast collection of curses, than any teenager with self-respect should rightful keep in times like that, and would fill the swear jar to the top, more than enough for two trips to Paris.

There was no need however, as she wouldn't leave Max’s side to argue about something so stupid as leaving, because she was sure they wouldn't.

Chloe wasn't angry, she was _outraged_ with their actions, not only they were the reason for their _own daughter’s_ sadness, her _best friend_ , they were planning to leave town with Max, taking Chloe’s sister with them.

She was going upstairs to bring Max down with her and help her parents in convincing Max’s parents, to stay in Arcadia Bay.

It was her last attempt to reach a peaceful solution, because if their own daughter couldn't convince them to stay permanently for good, nothing would, they already agreed in staying for three more weeks, to give time for both girls to properly say goodbye to each other, with promises to keep contact and bring Max and Chloe to visit to each other.

But that wasn’t enough, not by a long shot, maybe before, with guarantees by both sides to visit each other, but after seeing Max in that state she knew that this wasn't an option any longer, _Max can’t leave like this and I won't let her go, not after what I saw..._

Chloe was never scared, she was always the fearless of the pair, however, that was one of the few days when she wasn’t, when she saw Max crying that way, she was truly sacred, not for herself but for Max that day. _She thought I would leave her, I could have had an accident if it wasn’t for Spider Max and her Caulfield senses, she always got me out of trouble but, fuck, that was something else, she looked so lost and I did...nothing, I just looked like a dumbass and started shouting her name, that really helped Chloe._

_What type of Best Friend Forever doesn’t know when her other half isn’t fine? I should have talked to her, the minute dad took that picture of us and she started acting weird._

It was obvious that Max was going to freak out about leaving her behind, _I would too...well, not in the same way, I would probably break some stuff and, I don’t know, run away?_

She was closer to her room and to opening it now. _Her parents have to stay, mom and dad know what to do, they always do._

_And if we can’t convince them...we are running away together, you and me Max, I am not letting you go, screw your parents if they think any different, you are my best friend, that will never change._

She opened the door and looked inside, everything was dark, but she could see Max covered by her blankets, sleeping peacefully in her bed.

_I am never leaving you, and you will never leave me too._

“Hey, Max? Our parents want you to come downstairs, we’re gonna convince them to stay.”

She heard no sounds however.

“Max, come on, you know we won’t let you go, you are staying here at Arcadia Bay, with us.” _With me…_

Yet, no sound, _damn Max, I know you are really tired, but you gotta to wake up now._

She decided to sit on the far end of the bed.

“I swear that if we can’t convince them, we are running away together, we promise to not never leave each other behind, and we won’t, now please wake up?”

_No sounds, not even a grunt, or a snore, or anything that resembles a Caulfield._

She decided to get closer to Max and shake her up.

“Max, Max, Max!” she was calling her name and shaking the bundle of blankets, but there was no reaction for her.

“Alright enough of this!” she pulled all the blankets that revealed… _nothing? Just a bunch of pillows, a letter and a note?_

_Okay, she must be fucking with me then._

“Max, if you think I am going to play around now, you are completely wrong, stop fucking around and show up!”

She only heard absolute silence, pissed, Chloe decided to give a closer look at that note, _It is written…”_ _Chole, can you give this letter to mom and dad? Please?”_

“What is the deal here Caulfield? _”_

She looked for her lost friend, in the entire room, then her parents room, then the bathroom, but she wasn’t anywhere, worried, Chloe took the letter with her and started to go downstairs, from there she could hear their parents talking and see them, all seated in their chairs, close to the table.

“Honey...we should stay here for more than three weeks, don’t you think?” Ryan was asking his wife.

“Ryan, I wasn’t going to change my mind, but...I don’t want to hurt our Maxine this way, and to be honest, I want to stay here too, it’s just, this is a great chance for us.”

“I know Ness, but Max isn’t in any condition to leave, if you decide to go this week _,_ you risk your daughter doing something reckless and dangerous.” Her dad added his argument to the debate, and Joyce added her words to William’s words.

“Besides, it isn’t like we won’t help you if your family needs support, during those weeks we could...”

But Vanessa wouldn't have it.

“Joy, we can’t ask you to borrow us money! That wouldn’t be fair, we...”

“Who said anything about _borrowing?_ Vanessa, we would give it, not borrow it to you, we are family after all.”

“I know Joyce, but that’s still unfair.”

“Vanessa, we always considered your daughter and by extension you and Ryan, part of our family too.” dad said.

“We always thought the same about Chloe and you as well.” Ryan confirmed what was already known to both families.

“So, this means you and Vanessa will think about it?” dad asked with a smile.

“I am not sure Bill, but…we can stay a few more weeks and we are going to discuss this together with Maxine, even if we don’t stay, we are going to keep contact anyway.” Ryan answered his question and Vanessa was continuing his line of thought.

“And my husband can and will bring Chloe to our home, or he can drive our Max to your home, so she can stay with her for the weekends and holidays, if you wish.”

“Why me? You can drive too, did you forget?”

“Maybe I will _“forget”_ some other things, if you don’t change your tone quickly enough...”

Everybody was laughing now.

It was then that Vanessa saw Chloe by the stairs.

“Sweet pea, good thing you and Max had decided to join...Chloe, where is Max?”

“I didn’t find her...”

“ _Chloe,_ what do you mean you didn’t find her?” Mother didn’t like that answer, not one bit.

Chloe was readying herself for the future lecturing that her mother would give, about not keeping a better eye on her best friend.

“She left a letter for Vanessa and Ryan.” she was walked to Ness to hand her the letter.

“Give it here dear.” She took it from her hands and started to read it with Ryan in a low voice.

Their brows were getting higher and higher the more they read it, and Chloe couldn’t help but think, _What did Max just write? It can’t be that shocking._

Dad was getting worried so he asked.

“Ryan, Vanessa, is everything okay?”

“She...she just wrote that she is running away.” Vanessa answered his question.

_Okay, that is quite shocking..._

“What are you talking about Vanessa?” Mom asked and took the letter to read it aloud.

 

“Hi mom, dad, I know you two want to leave Arcadia Bay to Seattle, but I don't want to leave, Chloe is my best friend...no, she is more than that, she is my **sister** , she is everything for me, I promised to never leave her behind, and I won't break this promise for no one. Not even for you two, I know this is the opportunity you were looking for, I understand this is a dream come true for you...but not for me, my dream has Chloe in it and I am not going to waste my chance of being happy anymore.

You can leave for Seattle if you wish, without your daughter, I am staying in Arcadia Bay, with the sister I chose.

My pirate sister :)

Ps: Sorry, I didn't mean to sound like an asshole with that line, but it is true! That's kinda cruel of you making me leave Chloe, WTF Mom and Dad?!  :(

Pss: Please tell Chloe to not leave that stupid skateboard at the stairs...or the door, _again,_ I almost got hurt because of that, for cereal Chloe STOP being so lazy you dork! -_-+ Ծ_Ծ

Psss: Sorry sorry there must be a limit of ps, but dad, if you are looking for your car keys, you left them at the kitchen, soooo...you gonna find out what I did with them in few seconds. ;)

Pssss: Wtf Max, stop using the ps and get to the point! Joyce, William, it wasn't Chloe’s fault, I didn't tell her anything, which is why she is here with you two now and not running away with me.

Infinite ps: I am sorry for not inviting you Chlo, I will make up for that, somehow.

With love, your daughter forever and ever.

Max “Never Maxine” Caulfield.

 

  
Nobody said a word, it was unbelievable, _Max Caulfield_ , the shyest girl yet to date, Chloe’s best friend, wrote a letter and decided to run away? _The mischievous little brat decided to run away? Alone? Without inviting me!?_

Dad was the first to break the silence.

“Wait...Max stole your keys Ryan?”

The sound of the motor starting answered her father’s question.

“Max!” was Vanessa’s and Ryan’s reactions as they, with the Price family behind them, were running to the front door just in time to see Ryan Caulfield car in the street, a red Jeep Grand Wagoneer, the meaning of uncool for any teenager her age...and Max was driving it, with the sound blasting it is way across the street.

Chloe could only think and say one sentence aloud, after being witness of such unique moment in her life…

“This is so fucking badass!”

She covered her mouth with her left hand, as mom turned her head and gave her daughter a look, one that meant _we are going to have a very serious talk young lady._

_I am so screwed…_

 

Chloe, Joyce, William, Vanessa and Ryan were still at the house, while going after Max in the Price’s car would be a great idea, they didn't have Bill’s car keys, and without that, the only way to get to her, would be walking, until by some miracle they bumped on her by dumb luck, it would be easier if they used the car, so it wasn't unreasonable that they should find the keys first and then search for Max.

While the rest was looking for them, Chloe and her mom were _talking_ with a lot of _calm_ and _control_ (having Vanessa, Ryan and William at Chloe’s side helped) about her role into all this.

“Chloe, this isn't time for games, where Max is going?

“I don't know mom! I told her to stay in my room.”

“How did she even get out without making a sound?” Dad asked aloud.

Mom wasn’t going to be interrupted however.

“Bill! Focus here, now Chloe, what did you tell Max?

“Nothing! She just wrote to you that she didn't tell me anything, I swear to god, I didn't know she was going to be so hella badass.”

“Hella?” Dad couldn't hold his tongue and asked.

“Max came up with this one, it is cool isn't it dad?”

Daughter and father started to talk about her new slang that would be used for now on, in her vast collection of slangs at the side of the curse collection, that she was going to use as well.

Mom was getting closer and closer to snap at her daughter and her _dear_ husband, but Vanessa decided to intervene.

“Joyce, you are wasting your time, Chloe doesn’t know.”

“And how do you know? She could have come up…”

“And she wouldn't go with Max? You really think she would stay behind? Please Joyce, you know your daughter better than that...I just hoped I knew mine better.” Vanessa was feeling guilty to the bone.

But Joyce wouldn't let her feel this way.

“Vanessa, this it isn’t your fault.”

“Yes Joyce it is! You two just told us how much this is was a bad idea, why didn't I listen?”

Neither would her husband.

“No honey, it’s my fault, I shouldn't have took that call, if I didn’t...”

And William decided to put an end to the guilt trip.

“Did you forgot who recommend you in the first place? Ryan, Vanessa, if even Chloe, who knows Max since they were kids and are thick as thieves, didn't know she was going to steal your car, and drive god knows where, how you two were hoping to know either? Actually…when did she learn to drive anyway?”

Ryan and Vanessa just looked at each other, it was a very good question, one that Chloe was asking the same now, _when the fuck did she learn how to drive_? _And how didn’t_ ** _I_** know _that?_

“We don’t know.”

“We never taught her.”

“That was very impressive driving for her age, she could teach Chloe someday…”

_That’s a hella good idea..._

"Bill! Have you found your keys yet?” Mom wasn't in the mood for dad’s small talk while they were searching for them.

“No yet dear.”

“Less talking and more searching then.”

“Yes dear…”

“And about you pumpkin.” Joyce turned to her daughter and said. “I know you are worried about Max, we are too, that's why we need to know anything you think Max would do if you were in her place.”

“Mom I can't tell you that, I…”

“We won’t go to Seattle anymore.” Vanessa interrupted Chloe before she could continue.

“Ness you don't need to decide this now.” mom said.

But Vanessa already made her decision.

“Joy, our daughter, our Maxine just took our car to run away, from her own parents, because she wanted to stay with her sister.”

She looked at Chloe in that instant, her husband putting his hand at his wife shoulder.

And Ryan said the next words.

“This isn't a question anymore, we just want her back, we won't lose her because of some chance in Seattle, we won’t go without our daughter.”

“You can talk to her first, you don't need to decide _now_.”

“Mom!” _Which side are you on anyway?!_

“What would you do in our place Joyce?” Vanessa asked

Joyce just smiled.

“The same thing, but I know how much you two wanted this.”

“We want our daughter’s happiness more.” Ryan said.

“Then it is settled, now we have to find those keys and then our daughter.” Vanessa was driven in finding her daughter, to hug her and not let her go...And afterwards give her the mother of all scoldings ever done, but this could be left for later.

“We need something first...Bill! Where did you leave those keys? How did you not find them yet?” Joyce asked, it was unacceptable that her husband could lose those damned things by pure unluckiness, dumbness, or both.

William answered, pointing to the table.

“Honey, I was sure I left those keys here, at _this_ table, I have no idea where they are.”

Chloe decided to ask then.

“Did you try outside?”

Dad just looked at her and started to laugh at such absurd.

“Why would they be outside?”

Mom didn’t waste a minute she just took dad’s location tool, opened the glass door and pressed the button. The beep sound could be heard by everybody, dad was ashamed and mom looked at him with a face of incredulity.

Ryan asked what everybody’s question was.

“How...”

Dad and mom answered simultaneously.

“No idea.”

“Don’t ask.”

Vanessa didn’t waste a minute either, she grasped Chloe’s arms, kneeling before her, like she held all the answers and asked her.

“Chloe, sweetheart, I swear to you, we won’t go to Seattle anymore...but please, you need your help to find her.”

She didn’t know what to say, until yesterday, she was sure that Max would never try something so insane and bold like running away... _For me, just to stay with me._

“Please Chloe, you are the only one here who would know where she going now.” Ryan was desperate just as Vanessa.

_Okay Price, you know her better than everybody here, where she would go…wait, that is it!_

“Our treefort, it is the closest place she could go.” _And the only place she knows the best._

“Are you sure sweetie? Wouldn’t that be too obvious for us?” Dad asked.

“Not for you, there are places that are hard to find around the treefort, Max can hide there for weeks and you still wouldn’t find her, even with more help, and if we wanted we could have hid there together...I was planning this, but I didn’t expect Max trying that _alone,_ without me.”

“She would still need food and water, Max doesn’t have those things at your treehouse, right?” Dad asked her.

“Well...not really.” _Take note Chloe, next time, remember to bring food and water._

“You are right William, she has to leave the lighthouse one way or another.”  Vanessa answered.

“But Max could go to her house to get that stuff, couldn’t she?” Chloe asked.

“No without my house ke...” Ryan stopped speaking when he realized one small problem, one that Vanessa realized too.

“You left them in the car.” It wasn’t a question, it was an affirmation. Vanessa wasn’t even angry, she should have expected that her husband would leave the house keys in the car anyway.

Joyce wasn’t bothered either.

“Then Max may stop at your house first, but it doesn’t matter, we need to go now.”

“You’re right Joyce, let’s go Chloe.”

Ryan didn’t think this was good idea or safe.

“Are you sure that you want to bring her with us?”

But Vanessa insisted.

“We have to, otherwise we will take weeks instead.”

“I am going too?” Chloe was sure that they would punish her or do anything else, but not bring her with them.

“Of course you are, we are finding Max together, right honey?” Dad looked at mom.

“That we are.” Her mom said that with a confidence that convinced all the rest that they would find Max and bring her home.

As Chloe was sitting inside the car at the middle of the Caulfield’s she thought, _we’re gonna find you and bring you back Max...and you are teaching me how to drive a car._

 

* * *

 

Max

 

Playing “Bad Reputation” on the radio loud enough to be heard by anyone in the neighborhood, Max was truly feeling a rebel, _Wowser, I am running away, Chloe is going to b_ e sooo _proud, and sooo pissed! I didn’t even invite her to do this!_

That was the wildest thing she ever did in her entire life, being the shyest of the pair, what she was doing would be something that Chloe would suggest, but _Max_ doing that? _Alone?_ Nobody would expect that, not without a certain troublemaker’s suggestion...

Max was having the night of her life, she still had to deal with the coming of the storm, in five days or maybe more, she wasn’t sure, _but I could have planned something! I had two week to do so._

Of course, having to deal with:

A mentally disturbed boy, a psychotic teacher...And a fucking _E6 tornado_ , one that came out of absolutely nowhere, because apparently saving her friend’s life was too much for some screwed up cosmic entity to accept, that’s it, _if_ something did give her those time traveling powers, which she didn’t have any idea.  

_And Rachel...but she is alive now! I don’t need to protect everybody else, I only need to protect you Chloe, you and our parents, our friends are safe! They will only come to Arcadia Bay in a few years._

_There is nothing else to distract me now, I can make some plans, and if the storm does come in a week, I can get us out of here._

_Me, Chloe, our parents, and whoever else wants to join us._

Getting out of the house was easier that Max would have thought, nobody was expecting her to try something that bold in the first place, _well...it would be easier if Chloe didn’t let that freaking skate in the front door, I had to rewind because I fell to the ground like a dolt._

_Then it was rewriting that letter, Joyce and William came gunning on Chloe, thinking she was planning all this, so I rewinded and added some extra stuff, which worked, you are welcome Chloe._

_Then I remember that dad usually let the car keys at the table, I could give a try and drive dad’s jeep._

_Okay so I rewinded sometimes, but I still ran away and I barely needed them! So why is my nose still bleeding?_

She had ran away almost 10 minutes ago and the bleeding didn’t want to stop, Max was betting to see which would stop first, her nose or herself, and she apparently was winning since her nose was finally stopping...but not the headache.

Lowering the radio and slowing and driving more cautiously, so she wouldn’t risk hitting an animal or a human being, Max was stopping at the Caulfield family’s house, _my house._

_I never thought I would see home sweet home again, it was five years since I left, I remember that someone bought it...but I didn’t want to see it again and it wasn’t like I was going to start crying over it._

The house wasn’t really _nostalgic_ for Max, it was her time with Chloe and their parents that made those days so great.

She stopped the jeep at the house, turning off the motor and getting out, she looked at her “old” house, _wowser, it looks the same_ …

It was like the Price family’s home, it was an unremarkably red house, nothing special, aside for the memories...memories that she could remake again, remake her entire life, do it _right, like I should have in this timeline, this house may be destroyed too, so...I guess this is a sort of goodbye?_

She took her dad’s house keys and got inside, as she closed the door and locked, she looked around inside it.

_The tv is here, the kitchen table looks the same and our drawings are there! We made our anime characters, Ice and Red Rain...okay those names sucked! How did we invent that?! Oh right, Chloe read a manga with that blue haired girl, and then she started to obsess about having blue hair too, and she tried to convince me to dye my hair red with her, because ‘we would totally look cool’ and..._

_...Fuck Max! Stay focused for two minutes, you don’t know have time to be nostalgic now! You don’t know when dad and mom are coming back, for all you know they can come back any minute with William’s and Joyce’s car, if they find the keys that is._

_Alright, the fridge must be full of food, you need to eat something too Max, and water, lots of water…_

_Then my diary, it must be in my room inside my backpack, I can use it and make some plans with it._  

She was going fast upstairs to her room, she readied herself for... _what? It just your old room, it isn’t anything special._

Opening the door, she saw her room, she wondered, it looked... _the same, my books, comics and mangas are all on the stand, Lord of the Rings, Battle Royale, Death Note, the table is here, with my math homework, ugh, homework, are you cereal?_

_At least I already learned it so it wouldn't be as bad, well as I had already learned everything,I kinda have the upper hand over everybody else at school…_

It was bit unfair but, it wasn’t like she had great ambitions at school, she wanted to be a photographer, so that didn’t matter.

Max looked inside her closet and took her backpack, there was her diary, she gave it a quick look and memorized as fast she could about everything she had forgotten about what was happening when she was thirteen, then she took her old clothes, all generic as Chloe would say.

_But where do I go?_

Max needed a place to go, somewhere she could hide easily but her parents wouldn’t have too much of a hard time finding her, she was going to return in a few days after all, she wasn’t staying in the wild, even though that idea did look cool to try, Max didn’t have the heart to do that to her parents, that would be too cruel.   

Seeing her room was...weird, Max never thought she would see it again, her bed was in order like she always left.

The grey wall was full of pictures, recordings of everything that she did with Chloe and their parents, at school, at the lighthouse, on the street, she loved to take photos and put them on the wall, a tradition she brought with her to Seattle and back with her to Blackwell.

_That’s one where Chloe was rocking that skate on the rails, it was a cool shot, and this is one…_

She looked closer at that photo and took it from the wall, it was a photo of the lighthouse.

_I could go to the lighthouse and hide there, it is a bit obvious but I can easily hide around the park, the trees..._

_Wait, our treefort, I could go there, I can hide for some days and plan everything there._

There was another reason about why she was running away, the first reason was Chloe, but as Max was thinking and the minutes were passing she understood that she needed to make plans as soon as possible, Max couldn’t do that at home, she needed to be alone for some days.

Alone to think about everything that was happening, how was she here? The storm, when is it coming now? How is it coming? Can she stop the storm? Or does she need to run away fast?

And about herself and what she wanted in the end, Max wanted to protect Chloe and be at her side, she already knew that, _but what else do I want afterwards?_

She took the photo and looked at it.

_There's always a lighthouse, a woman, and a town right? So am I lost in a loop? Trying and trying to save everybody, but I will always fail? No, I can’t believe that, even if I can’t save everybody, I will save our family Chloe, and fuck anybody who says otherwise._

_The lighthouse, the place where all this started, when I had that vision, I can see if anything starts to change there, it didn’t snow yet, the radio didn’t say anything about it, and Chloe would have told me otherwise before I left._

_There is only one way to know..._

 

* * *

 

_Here I am..._

Max was at the treehouse, it was Max’s and Chloe’s place, where nobody and nothing could touch them, far from everything, they always came there to play around, talk, anything.

The walls were full of drawings, posters of movies, bands and games that both girls liked, they had comics and mangas of all different genres that they loved to collect, Max would always add a different photo to the walls and Chloe would always add a different drawing, always inviting Max to join her and draw something too.

Chloe was always the artist of the two, making the coolest drawings and unique ideas, the treehouse was basically Chloe’s and Max’s gallery of drawing and photography.

Leaving the car close, as nobody was likely to steal it; after all, Arcadia Bay was somewhat calm as a town, the boring town, not exciting as other places, but at least it didn’t have the shit that people usually have to deal with in other cities like New York, Los Angeles or even Seattle, like crime, pollution.

But the true was more complicated, on the surface, Arcadia Bay _looked_ calm, but if you looked close enough, you could see how uncalm the place truly was, as Max had discovered a week ago.

The surrounding place was empty, not a soul could be seen or heard, not that she was expecting somebody, that was the point of returning in the first place, people usually didn’t wander in the forest, aside from other teenagers if they got lost, or wanted to explore the place, but Max could hide, there were places around where Chloe and she played, she wasn’t going to be found unless she wanted to be.

After making some sounds to be sure she was completely and utterly alone, ready to rewind otherwise, and armed with a kitchen knife for emergencies, she didn’t like those things and Max was sure that there wasn’t any real danger out there...but it wasn’t a bad idea to take some steps in protecting herself anyway, that and the forest at night was a bit scary, you can never know if some madman is just waiting to kill her or eat her body or whatever so there is that.

Inside the treehouse, seated on an old bed with her diary in hands with lots of water, food, which was mostly chips and cookies, and three pieces of clean shirt and pants, Max started to make plans and make up her own conclusions about everything that happened during that week since she became a time traveler, the conclusions weren’t the best to be honest, she only had more questions.

But she made sure to take note of everything she did during that week, to write the dates of everything that happened during those days.

As she was taking notes in her diary some things were more or less confirmed for her.

 

1- The storm came earlier that it should, she remembered the vision well, **Tuesday, October 20th, 2013,** that was the date the storm came, But the storm would always hit on **Oct 11th** , not the 20th.

Something had accelerated its coming.

Stopping time _once_ and traveling between photos without control were likely the reason, so if she just kept using only her rewind and use only when necessary, she could keep the storm away for now, but for how long, that was a bit more complicated...  

_The universe could be trying to…”adapt” itself to my powers? The world wouldn’t be ending then, at least it should have done worse than a E6 Tornado after everything I did in a week, then it wouldn’t be my fault, the universe is just unable to not cause destruction around, while it adapts to me._

 

2- Her powers worked like a muscle, and as any muscle, it could be trained and become better, but if she overstretched, at best she would pass out, at worse Max could die. Or bring unforeseen collateral effects, like stopping time.

It explained why her nose kept bleeding for so long in the car, since she was in her younger body, her powers left Max more strained, physically and mentally, which means that she needed to take good care of herself, reduce the number of rewinds and only use them when necessary.

Her time stopping would be used only in emergencies, like Kate’s.

 _And the photos...I have sworn to never use my powers_ _again, but if the storm comes and I can’t save them, I need a backup plan, but only if I don’t have any other choice, otherwise I am never using those photos again._

The photos were too reckless, too chaotic to be used, she couldn’t control the outcome with that, last time she tried, Chloe was in a wheelchair, only as a last resort, in a life or death situation, with no other option, Max would use it again and not before.

 

3- In this timeline the storm came five years later, it never came before and Max used her rewind there too, but It was here that she would confirm this or not, that was the most important question, whether she did have time, but she would learn this soon, the omens started fast, her cellphone had a radio in it to keep her tabs during the nights.

Max had to be sure, those days outside would convince her parents to stay, she could plan everything she needed, and watch Arcadia Bay for any strange occurrences, omens, or any general strangeness…if that happened she had to make sure that her family would survive the coming storm no matter what, if she could bring more people with her she would, but Chloe and their parents was Max only priority.

 _If_ everything worked out, _if_ in two weeks the storm does not come, she could be absolutely sure that it would come only in five years then, like it happened in this timeline before.

Otherwise, she would have to act and get her family out of Arcadia Bay.

She kept writing in her diary, putting in paper everything that she could remember, and adding her thoughts about the connection between her abilities and the storm...

 

My powers started this mess, I am the reason, but if I am the cause…am I the solution?

Is there a scientific answer? Mrs. Grant told me that not even the best from NASA were capable of explaining the snow, an eclipse and double moons. But it could have been caused by my constant meddling with time, and as I was affecting reality, the universe reacted with a storm?

But why saving William didn’t destroy Arcadia Bay then?

In the other timeline, when I saved William, the snow, the eclipse, the birds, whales, everything happened again, and it didn’t happen before, saving her father was a massive change, it should have brought the apocalypse to Arcadia Bay.

But if using my rewind to save Chloe brought a storm in two weeks **…** then why saving her father didn’t as well

The storm came five years later, it never came before and I used my rewind there too.

No, there is no logical reason for the storm here, there isn’t science behind it, no matter how much Warren tried to explain it to me, everything that is happening in Arcadia Bay looks more like some sort of fuck up magic than any science, it doesn't make any sense, the only thing that makes "sense", is that apparently the universe wishes Chloe's death above anything else.

But to be fair, he just discovered _now_ that I could time travel, when I told him in the diner, his guesses would be just good as my own, maybe I should have told him in the beginning? Then I wouldn’t be so lost trying to understand this madness.

What about a supernatural reason? A god or gods gave me those powers...for what? To see what I would do with it? See if I would be worthy of these godlike abilities? By choosing between my best friend and a town full of innocent people? If that was the test, I don’t think I would have passed.

Or it is like that manga “Death Note”? Some bored time god saw me and thought, “hum...maybe I will give this hipster human girl a bit of my powers for her to play with, let’s see how much chaos she will bring.”

Okay...maybe I should stop thinking about that manga or Shinigami, or I am going to start thinking that I am a “god” too.

Or there is no reason, I just got them by pure chance, one in a trillion, and the storm comes with the cool “gifts”?

Maybe I always had them, and discovered my potential later? Maybe I made the storm, but if I did, how do I stop it?

 

The only thing that she never considered or better saying, _refused_ to consider was Chloe.

Max couldn’t see her as the cause of this destruction or even more future destruction, if she was, then the world was doomed, it was already hard for her to consider letting Chloe die at the hands of Nathan Prescott, the only reason she considered in the first place was because she _asked_ her, now to let a 14 years old Chloe die? Nothing in this world would convince Max to do so, not when she was so young and full of life, a Chloe who had her father William, who wasn’t bitter with his death and the bullshit that life brought afterwards.

And Max was going to make their lives much better, they deserved that much.

What about that blue butterfly in the bathroom? Maybe that was what started that mess? No, it can’t be that easy, but that butterfly was strangely connected in all this, and I felt something different that day, a spirit? It couldn’t be just a coincidence right?

That was something she was thinking for some time now, and it looked possible.

Samuel said something about me being connected to Arcadia Bay by time and tide, did he know what I could do? He said he could feel something was coming, that something was causing all this, change was coming to Arcadia Bay.

And that something is me, but what does that mean? That I was supposed to bring the storm here?

If the storm was always supposed to come, then as long as I live...the storm is coming.  

Than what was the solution? Killing herself? Nothing said that anybody’s death would resolve anything, and if she did killed herself, what happens with her dad? Her mother? Chloe?

That wasn’t a solution, that was giving up, she thought about dying in the bathroom to save everybody’s life, but even that didn’t guarantee anything, for all she knew the storm would come regardless and Arcadia Bay wouldn’t have anyone to help weathering the storm.

_I can’t stop the storm then? Why the fuck I even got those powers in the first place? To bring destruction!?_

She threw her water bottle against the wall, her diary, her notes, all scattered on the ground, after five minutes of pure anger at _everything,_ she calmed herself, _I guess I can only save as much as I can and hope for no more storms._

Max didn’t like those conclusions, but it was the closest one to the truth, if there was one anyway.

There was only one more thing that was really nagging the back of her head without end, how she got back here without using _that_ photo?

Max didn’t have any idea about how she was back, she thought of hundreds of reasons, none of them were possible, or made sense, the only thing that made sense was, she was sent here somehow, either by something...or herself.

It didn’t make sense, that was downright impossible, she wasn’t that powerful, if she was, Max would have already done that a _long_ time ago, Max knew that she could never replicate that.

Then again, she was a time traveler, the line about what was impossible and possible was becoming nonexistent, as that week had proven, and her days in this timeline were proving.

_Wait, days? How long have I been here? I must be what, two days in this timeline right?_

Max took her flip-phone, a relic, compared to the last generation of cellphones from two thousand thirteen, _“Thursday, October 10, 2:30am,_ Wowser, I didn’t rest for like, ever? _”_ She was trying to remember when was the last time she rested and slept soundly, without being in an automatic mode, it felt like months without resting.

Max couldn’t sleep, she was tired, but she feared that the storm would come _now,_ and if it did, she knew what to do, she took some selfies in the treehouse and in her home, if it did come, she could come back with her new selfies and make sure that the other Max would know that the storm came and she had to act.

She would get outside, take a fresh breath of air once in awhile in the night while hearing the news on the radio on her cellphone, but thankfully it was always the same boring news, nothing that included the words “weird”, “strange” “snow _” or “storm”._

_Maybe I have time, I can rest for some weeks and then start to act._

_But if I do have time, what am I going to do later? Am I going back to school and live the same life? No, I won’t live the same way again, I won’t be Max Caulfield any longer, I don’t know what happened to me during this timeline, but I know that I won’t leave Chloe anymore...or become a Vortex member, fuck that._

Her alternative self didn’t make any sense, how William not dying made her a member of the _Vortex club? And a popular kid to boot? Are you cereal?_

 _And I still lost contact with Chloe anyway, it didn’t end in bad terms at least, but I still wasn’t there, she was in a fucking_ **_wheelchair_ ** _and I still wasn’t there, what fuck was wrong with that Max? She just left her behind and wanted to be the popular kid? If I could beat her I would, she was such a bitch._

Max knew she wasn’t being fair with herself, that Max or _Maxine,_ as she was called by her friend Victoria didn’t look like a bad person, but that was because she didn’t have enough time to truly see her that way or judge, but for what she _did see,_ Maxine was an asshole and bitchy to boot, an unloyal friend, a puppet queen for the Vortex club.

That’s was all Max saw and nothing was changing her mind, after seeing Chloe like that, she was much less forgiving to herself, mistakes were unacceptable, she was determined in making this time a great one for her and Chloe, to recover the lost time, and perhaps...enjoy life, if the storm doesn’t come in a week of course, otherwise things were going to be much more complicated.

It was three in the morning and Max still couldn’t sleep, sometimes she was in doubt if she was thinking too much, or not enough.

Ever since she used her rewind, her head was killing her, like someone was bashing her head in with a rock, slowly and painfully.

_Fuck, when this is going to stop..._

So she just kept writing in her diary, hundreds of plans for each different outcome, each more insane than the other, theories that were not even close to reality, plans to deal with the storm, and _Mark Jefferson._

The name was disgusting to her, the more she thought about him, the more she wanted to kill him herself, she had a desire of making him pay the price in full for everything he _did_ , was _doing_ and was going _do,_ sooner or later.

_But I am not a killer and I never killed someone before...but he hurt me, Kate, Rachel, Chloe, and how many other girls did he hurt? Or was going to hurt? With or without Nathan?_

She didn’t need to kill him however, she remembered the coordinates of the barn well, all she needed to do was making _one_ call to the police and Jefferson was getting the big house for the rest of his life, him and Nathan.

But somebody would have to get hurt for this to happen, Jefferson only started teaching in Arcadia Bay in a few years, she didn’t have proof of anything he did yet, and Max didn’t have the heart to let some innocent girl be hurt to make sure he was going to fall, she wasn’t that ruthless...at least Max hoped she wasn’t.

_He only started to make his mark here thanks to Prescott money, if Nathan wasn’t around, how was he planning to continue his “art”?_

Nathan wasn’t evil, he was still pretty bad as a human being, but he needed help too, _he did warn me about Jefferson, so he isn’t completely bad just...lost, if I could help him, but how? I could try contacting his sister, Kristine right? She could have helped him, maybe she didn’t know how bad it was for her brother._

_And without the Prescott money, Jefferson can only depend of his influence, but what will he do without it anymore?_

_Thinking better, if I can’t find proof against him...I don’t need to take a gun and shoot him, I could arrange an “accident”, just a minute sooner or later can bring a lot of chaos to someone’s life…_

She got up from the bad and looked herself in the mirror.

“God...what I am saying? I am not a murder, but if someone deserves this end, it is him.”

Was this revenge or justice? A mix of both? No, it was only revenge here, _everything he did…_

 _“Is nothing compared to what you will do to this town for her.”_ her reflection answered Max.

She saw her 18 years old reflection instead of her younger 13, _how...how is this even possible? I am dreaming…_

“You are not dreaming, not this night.” her reflection decided to answer her question, it looked at her with an unflinching gaze, there was a night that she would be sacred of such gaze, but not today.

Both Maxes were looking at each other with full hatred, but for different reasons.

“What the fuck you want now? I already told you that I made my...”

“Choice? Yeah I know, “I love her too much!” “She is my best friend” “I would _die_ for her” _“I would kill all of us for Chloe Elizabeth Price.”_ I got that part the second you raised your hand, so spare me the details.”

“Then what are you doing here? You already know my decision and you have no reason to exist, as a matter of fact...fuck off.”

“Oh believe me, I will leave your mind and this mirror forever, and I will make sure we will never see each other again, But I can’t do that without asking you one last question, without understanding why.”

_I can’t believe it, sooo much bullshit happening in one night._

“Just my luck...alright, ask.”

“Why she is more worthy than all of our friends? I get it why you want to die for her, you don’t give a fuck about yourself, you never did anyway, always thinking that everybody was better than you, and you always idolized her in a bizarre way, but _this?_ This is an obsession, not love or friendship, all of our friends will die, _our parents will die_ , yet you are willing to choose this?”

“You asked me a question, “Is she worth all this?” Yes, Chloe is worth all this, that’s doesn’t mean that I have to kill…”

“Didn’t you just said ‘For Chloe I am willing to do worse, I will do worse if I must, and _I won’t regret it?_ ’ What fuck you thought was going to happen? You would live a life of adventure with your best friend, but not under the bodies of our parents and friends? _”_

“Oh fuck you! Are you telling me you wouldn’t do the same for our best friend?! How can somebody be so heartless? You...”

“ **Heartless!?** You bitch! I am not the one who…”

“You are not even real, why I am still talking with you? I am going to sleep or write on my diary, I am just losing my time.”

“You still think I am not real? You want to believe that, don’t you?”

“Why should I believe you are real in the first place? You are just a combination of all my fears.”

Her reflection just smiled, a smile which Max would call an evil one, if she was capable of such smile in the first place, Max hoped she wasn’t.

“Then you only have two possibilities, either your mind has become so fucked up that you can’t separate what is real from a dream any longer, which wouldn’t be surprising by the way...Or I am _real,_ can you tell me which is worse?”

 _“_ Then answer _my_ question, I gave you my answer, only fair if you answer my too, if you are _real_ that’s it. _”_

Her reflection didn’t like that word “ _real” got you angry now? Bitch._

Her reflection was looking like she was using all her willpower not to snap, after a full minute she answered back with her eyes in the ground, like she felt ashamed of her answer.

“The irony is that...yes, I think I would do the same.”

_What? If she would, then why she is judging me in the first place?_

“Then why...”

“But not for _her,_ I wouldn’t sacrifice all of our friends for her, and even if I do understand _why_ I would do it myself in the first place, that doesn’t make it what you are doing any less wrong.”

She tried to answer back, but she was stunned by the answer.

Her reflection didn’t care.

“You must despise me don’t you? You think I can’t hear what you think about me? About how much I am bitch for not caring enough about Chloe? For not being at her side? About how I am _evil?_ ”

Something was very wrong with those lines she just said, _how does she know about that?_

“I...what do you mean you know...”  

“Did you ever thought for one minute, that the world doesn’t rotate around her? That there are other people who are just as worthy to live too? People, who you just condemn to _death_ , because you can’t let it go, and you call me heartless?”

Max was remembering something, about a certain talk in the diner...

“Wait, you...you said that there were other Max’s before, if you are real, then you are...no...that can’t be, there is no way you are.” _No no no that can’t be I..._

“Yeah, I am that one.”

“But, if you are real, if, if you are really real, then, why did you leave Chloe behind? She was in a wheelchair, and you just...how are you even talking with me then?”

“Two questions for the price of one huh? Alright, I will indulge you, I did contact Chloe, true...I didn’t visit her even though I wanted too, someday, but I had a life you know, and I wanted to enjoy it, what fuck I was even supposed to say? ‘Hi Chloe, I am sorry that you are quadriplegic, but as you know, life sucks, amiright?’ Are you for real? What you expected me to do? At least I still kept contact! You didn’t even do that and you still look at me like I am some sort of monster? Like you can judge yourself, in fact...you always did that anyway.

“Always thinking you suck, that you aren’t better than anyone, but let me say something to myself, all that humility? Only lies, you always thought you were superior to others, or are you going to tell me that you didn’t think that Victoria didn’t deserve to win the everyday hero contest? Because she had the courage to fight for what she wanted? For all her faults, at least she had courage, of course you were shocked when you saw yourself actually achieving something in life! And all that without those freaking rewinds! I did all by myself, I didn’t need mystical time traveling to do that for me, or needed someone other than myself to see my own worthy.

“And about how I am talking with you? After you killed her, I was confused about why I was here, or why she was dead, then William came through the door, asking questions about why his daughter was just _dead_.”

_Oh my god..._

She had to ask her what happened next.

“What...what did he do?”

“My luck is that William already knew, well, not all the details, but he had an idea about why _you_ came there, Chloe was never a good liar and it was fishy as fuck for you to be suddenly there, but he just let me go, he wasn’t even angry at me, William would never accuse us for wanting nothing but the best for his daughter, and he always saw us as his second daughter...a daughter that returned just to kill her sister.”

“Chloe...Chloe was in pain, she felt betrayed when I said no, I couldn’t just leave her and abandon her in pain! Would you even stay at her side afterwards?”

“You asshole! _That Chloe,_ deserved to live much more than that whore you want to protect sooo much! You couldn’t stay at her side for at least a fucking month?! You had to leave no matter what right? All for a girl who kept whining about how her life was unfair! Who wasted her life, who isn’t worthy twice the Chloe you left behind, just so you could be at that punk’s side for the rest of your life. You two deserve each other.”

The mirror cracked.

Her reflection didn’t mind.

“Got _you_ angry now?”

“You want to hate me? Go ahead, I deserve it, but don’t you dare to say that Chloe wasn’t a hero, _don’t you fucking dare._ ”

“On that we can agree...she is a hero, more than you, at least she was ready to fix your fuck ups, when you brought the storm here.”

“I...I didn’t...” Max was trying to counter that, but her reflection wouldn’t give her the chance.

“Then afterwards, when the storm came, I have gone with Victoria, Courtney and Taylor to the hospital, because Taylor's mom was still there, and we couldn’t just leave the town for shelter, not without making sure she was fine.

“A fucking whale was flying straight at us, it almost hit our car and when Victoria tried to dodge it, we rolled over and I hit my head with full force against the front chair.

“I woke up, with the worst of headaches and the car on fire, I was sure I was going to die then, but I saw those three dumbasses trying to save my life. I told them to leave me behind before that fucking car blew up, they didn’t hear me of course, they had to save me…idiots, they got me out and Victoria was hugging me, thinking I had died, and...and a piece of a metal was flying straight at my back but she saw it and threw me to the side, but it hit her instead, straight in her stomach.

“It was then that I...raised my hand, and...and I was rewinding, I rewinded time for the first time, but something had gone wrong, it was always stopping a few seconds, I had to watch that same fucking piece of metal in and out of her body, but I couldn’t stop trying, I had to save her life, I managed to get myself a few extra seconds, with my nose, my ears, my eyes, they were all a fucking mess of blood but I managed to throw my body and protect her with it...I told her to leave, Taylor and Courtney were trying to get her out of me because the tornado was almost there, but she wouldn’t leave, I heard her screaming my name, screaming that she loved me, they finally got her out of me before the car would blow up…

“But the last thing I saw, was those three going straight to the two whales and...and...do I need to say what I _saw?_ **_What I heard?_ ** ”

“I…”

_“That fucking fire...it hurt sooo, sooo much, I...I hate you for everything you did to me. And now I am locked inside your head ever since, and I can’t get out, not without dying, just talking to you hurts...”_

Max was already crying, but she was trying to say something, anything to comfort herself, however, the words wouldn’t come out.

“I...I am sor...”

But Maxine had gone ballistic, pounding the mirror with her fists, cracks all around it.

**“You took everything from me! All my friends! I had to watch all of them die! I lost everything! Yet you got to live a happy dream?! You’re gonna kill all my friends again, I have to watch Victoria die again?! All because of you?! Not again!”**

In a moment Maxine was in the mirror pounding her fist on it, then the mirror, all cracked in pieces, screaming all sorts of profanities and curses, damning herself for everything that happened to her, then suddenly, she just disappeared.

_Where...where she is? She was in the mirror, where did she…_

**“I am here!”** she took her by the neck and pinned her to the wall with a knife dangerous close to her jugular, Max’s knife.

**“I am not going to watch you kill all of our friends because of a memory of some punk bitch that should have died in that bathroom!”**

Maxine hand was holding her throat tight, but she managed to squeeze some word out.

“You can’t kill me...I am...” Max was fighting for air.

“ **Why? Because I am going to die too? I already signed my death sentence the second I walked out of the back of your head, that doesn’t matter any longer, I won’t live as a fucking ghost! Watching you kill more people you monster!** ”

Max had only one last word to say before Maxine cut her throat.

“Victoria...”

“ **What?** ” the hold weakened, just a bit for Max to say the rest.

“I am the only thing...that stands between Jefferson and Victoria, I am the one who can protect her from him...and you know...what he will do to her if I don’t stop him... _you saw it._ ”

**“I...why should I trust you? You let her die, she died…”**

“Because...I warned her, yes, I know she died because of me, but I tried to save her all the same, I know who is going to kill her now, I know it’s not Nathan.”

Maxine hold was starting to falter, but she still drew blood...blood she felt running down her throat, either Max convinced herself to let her go, or she was dying right there.

**“You told me that if the choice was between Chloe and Arcadia Bay you...”**

“Why do I have to make a choice?! Who said I can’t save all of them? That’s bullshit! I have the powers of a god! I can save their lives, I will save all of them! Screw fate! We are not giving up.

The hand was starting to shake now.

“But I can’t do that alone, I need your help. _Maxine_...give yourself a chance.”

The knife was waiting for an answer, both girls were shaking, one for air, one in pain, with blood running, both girls were bleeding.

And when Max looked at herself, she saw her blue eyes, and saw herself all blooded, with burning marks all over her body, but she didn’t see a monster...only pain and hurt.

_You don’t deserve this...real or not, you don’t deserve this._

“ **Can you save them?”** It was a question that Max was ready to answer.

_“I won’t give up...”_

She opened her hand and she released herself then.

The pain in her head was doubling, if it looked bad before, now it was like she was going to die right there, but she raised her eyes from the ground and she looked at herself.

“I...I...I am sorry...sorry, I promise you...I will save our friends… _all of them._ ”

Maxine just looked at her, judging herself.

Then she started to walk to the door, it was twisted the way she walked, it was painful to see, but she could guess what Maxine was doing.

 _She wants to die, no,_ ** _no_** _I am not letting her do this!_ _If I can’t even save myself, then how can I hope to save anyone?_

And Max rose, getting closer and closer to Maxine, whose legs were giving away, she wasn’t afraid of herself any longer, Maxine raised her arms and was going to fall.

But Max caught her by the torso, and held herself close, not letting her go away, trying to keep her at her side.

They were seated with their backs on the wall, younger Max holding the older one. Both were crying.

 _“You need...to let me go.”_ Maxine said slowly, the blood running from her mouth, nose, her eyes...

“You won’t die alone.”

_“Promise me that you...are going to save...”_

“I will save all of them.”

_“all?”_

_“all.”_

_I just hoped I could save myself too, what a hero I am._

_“You are a hero, you just saved and gave yourself hope...if that isn’t being a hero, what else is?”_

“I don’t feel heroic.”

_“I was almost going to ask you to...kiss me for saving me...”_

_What…I...I..._

_“I am kidding...”_

“You...ass...you are dying and you still making a joke?” Max still smiled regardless.

_“I don’t look good crying...I rather die seeing myself smile.”_

“Just...just shut up, you won’t die like that.”

_“Max...you suck at lying, I know myself enough...to know that. But It’s alright...I want to see her again, I want to see her smile...please...make sure Victoria is happy here too...please, I want to trust myself...promise me.”_

“I promise Maxine.”

“ _Thank you...then I hope...you can be happy here too. Goodbye Max..._ ”

She cried for hours with Maxine in her arms, the rain and thunder breaking through the clouds, as the world knew what it just lost, it was then that she would lose consciousness because of the pain, welcoming darkness…

And when she finally woke up, not seeing herself in her arms any longer, with the light of sunrise shining in through the windows, with her knife in her right hand and her diary in her left hand, Max rose and looked at herself in her cracked mirror, she saw hundreds of Max’s, all looking to her, judging her.

She looked down at her hands then, full of blood.

Max looked at herself again, for minutes she just...looked, remembering everything that happened in that week in all timelines, all the pain that she felt.

She screamed full of anger at the injustice that life could have brought to her.

Max got herself on her knees and started to punch the wood in pure rage, it hurt, but it felt like it helped her pass through the pain, anything was better that what she felt now, she was shaking in rage.

_I don’t even know if she was real, I am either losing it or I destroyed her entire life, what is worse?!_

She saw her diary on the ground then, she took it, she had gone through the pages and saw it…a page full of names, of all the people she cared, written in blood.

“Victoria, Chloe, Kate, Taylor, Courtney, Warren, Dana, Juliet, Alyssa, Joyce, William, David, Nathan, Rachel...”

Max said all the names, of all the people she knew, until the last one, she decided to write one last name...“ **Maxine.** ”

After a few days, they would describe that the screams heard in the forest, were terrifying enough that the police had to be called to search for the possibility of deaths, the stories of those screams brought nightmares of such magnitude, that many refused to go to the forest, fearing to be the next ones, urban legends were told about those screams, stories about “the girl in the woods.”

The police didn’t find any bodies however and decided, uneasily, to let the matter rest.

But they were right, someone did die that morning, a girl was killed and a woman was born in that sunrise…


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello guys and gals, I know, I know, I took a long time writing this, and I won’t lie, this will happen much more time, since college and work are consuming too much of my time, and the free time I have left isn’t enough to write faster, regardless, I did say I wasn’t stopping :)
> 
> Author recommendations:
> 
> Before I start with the reviews I wanted to recommend three stories that I read while I was resting, which can be found in this website.
> 
> Rachel's power: By Egerke, we start with Rachel Amber being the one who had the powers before Max Caulfield, and it explores how she would be dealing with those powers in the first place, in the last few weeks of her life.
> 
> It follows the interesting theory of Rachel as the first time traveler (that we know) before Max, and how she was dealing with those powers and high school, with the constant gossip, homework, and the worse troublemaker of all (besides Rachel)...Chloe.
> 
> An intriguing tale to say the least.
> 
> http://archiveofourown.org/works/5932774/chapters/13643968
> 
> A Dancing Prism: By HWGA, Showing us a extremely grey but not less interesting character, and using the dialogue and the information dropped in the game, it’s a great character analysis of Rachel in her last moments alive, the author did a great job in showing his interpretation of Rachel and her motives. 
> 
> If you like character analysis, it’s a must read.
> 
> http://archiveofourown.org/works/5893915/chapters/13585408
> 
> Calm after the Storm: By Zaarkie, following the sacrifice Arcadia Bay ending, currently with one chapter, it’s mostly Max and Chloe dealing with the outcome of the storm, but showing nothing less than love and friendship for each other.
> 
> We can never have too many good heartwarming fics of those two girls, if you think the same, give it a shot.
> 
> https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11745135/1/Calm-after-the-Storm
> 
> Special thanks to my beta-readers: Berserker66666, ShadowDragon8685, Egerke, Jphw, HWGA and Zaarkie for beta-reading it, and putting up with my annoying ass :D
> 
> Reviews, criticism and comments are welcome, and as always, thank you everybody for reading it, reviewing, for leaving Kudos and Bookmarking this fic, I hope you will enjoy this chapter.

Chloe

On the first day that Max disappeared, a Thursday, after hours looking for her dad’s car keys, they finally got at the treehouse, close to 8 am.

Chloe had explored inside their treehouse, she wasn’t there, however, Chloe did see their bed all messed up, food thrown around, a water bottle on the ground, she didn’t need to guess that Max was there, and that she was still in the forest, hiding somewhere.

Until the afternoon, they were looking for Max around the treehouse, thinking she would be close, since it was more or less safe, but they didn’t find her anywhere.

After that afternoon without results, her mother came to the conclusion that enough was enough and decided to ask the help of the neighborhood, knocking on everybody’s door and asking for their help on finding Max, with Vanessa and Ryan calling the police as well.

It wasn’t hard to convince them to lend a hand, most had kids, brothers or sisters and if they were in the same situation, they surely would want help too, so they wouldn’t refuse her mother.

There were some that were “volunteered” by her mother’s steel glare and it would look bad on their part to refuse help to a kid in a time of need, the neighborhood pressure combined with Chloe’s mother was a 100% guarantee of success of recruitment.

Tree by tree, rock by rock, they were looking for Max everywhere, but she was much better at hiding, that didn’t bother Chloe, she knew it wasn’t going to be that easy anyway, after all, Max learned how to hide with the best, years playing of hide and seek apparently were practice to develop ninja skills at stealth, if disappearing and pulling that off for three days were any proof of that.

However, Max’s places to hide were getting fewer, Chloe knew Max like the back of her hand, and with a map in one hand and a pen in the other, she gave orders to the neighborhood (with Max’s and Chloe’s parents approval) of where they had to look for, she knew the best places where Max could hide and all the backup places that she could try if she felt they were getting too close.

Chloe was going to find her, Max couldn’t hide forever, she would find her, bring her home, and give Max a scolding for doing that _without her_ , then demand Max to teach her how to drive a car, because that’s been driving her crazy.

 _And we will be together and happy forever and ever, simple as that, your parents already agreed to stay here, now the only thing that is missing for us to get a happy ending is_ **_you stopping to hide you brat!_ **

It was like a game for Chloe, one that she was sure that she would win...at least, it was like that in the beginning, until someone found a knife inside a bush, with blood at the tip of the blade.

It was a kitchen knife, nothing special, the handle was made of wood, it was the type of knife that her mother would always use when she cooked her delicious food, that Chloe and her dad would start drooling like babies. Aside for the small drops of blood on it, there wasn’t anything memorable about it.   

However, the speculation and gossip arose under that, nobody knows who started, but someone made a comment, perhaps joking, that maybe there was a serial killer in the forest, Chloe just snorted at such irrational thought. What? Knife equals serial killer?

On the other hand, people apparently were irrational since half of the neighborhood started to think the same.

The stories that this one knife were creating were getting bigger as the hours passed, some people already claiming that they already “saw” this mysterious psychopath in one of their trips at the forest, guesses about his appearance, his job, even speculations about Max’s state, that something might have happened to her...

At that point the members of the neighbourhood were considering starting a hunt for this man, with the intention of finding this imaginary psycho, an encounter that this man (if he even existed) would not likely survive.

But her mother showed Chloe who exactly she inherited her good sense from.

Her mother decided to put an end in the expeculation right there, before it got out of control and the neighborhood started a witch’s hunting in the woods, not over bloodied knife, and forget the reason for this whole search in the first place, which was finding Max, not speculating over some imaginary serial killer, one that, as her mother said, no cases of homicide or even disappearance were heard until now, the last one being years ago.

But even with everybody focused back at the searching, Max was still two steps ahead of them.

So Chloe left messages written with white chalk, hidden codes in the form of drawings, things that only Max and Chloe would know, it was clear answers that her plan worked and she could stop screwing with their parents’ heads, thankfully, Max did answer back, and they were direct and fast, but for her dismay, they only said “ _Wait” “Not yet, but soon”_ with the last one written _“I will return, give me one more day”_  all those messages were written with blue chalk on the trees, with a blue butterfly at the side, to make sure that it was Max leaving those codes, which was humiliating since they had 30 people searching for her already and Max still could leave messages behind, without any concern of being found.

A demonstration of how much Max was a badass ninja.

Now they were in the third day since Max had run away, this would be the so called day that Max said she would return. And Chloe was frustrated with the fact that it was almost evening now and she still hadn’t returned.

Chloe was going to the lighthouse, one of the few places that they didn't check completely, Max could still be there hiding, she hoped so.

“Max! stop hiding, you parents are staying! They won’t leave anymore!” _Why I am even trying? It’s not like she is going to go ahead and answer me anyway._ “Where the hell are you!?” She was pissed, that wasn’t funny anymore, she was tired, smelly, and worried, especially worried, Chloe was desperate to find her, what if that serial killer stuff was real? What if something happened with Max? She didn’t know what she would do if Max got hurt somehow.

So she still kept searching, driven by fear that something could have happened to her, she wouldn’t come back until she got Max back.

 _I just want you back._ That’s what she wanted, she would do anything to get her back at her side again.

Worse of all was the other stories she was hearing, one that started with a couple of boys and girls older than Chloe, they were in the forest during the morning on the very first day that Max disappeared, those teens were sleeping after the party they trashed in the woods, ecstatic after their celebration of being young and wild.

And then, they heard the screams...they didn't know where they came from, only that they never heard something so horrifying as those before, they weren’t of fear however, they were furious shouts, following of several cursings.

Those teens did the only thing that any reasonable human being would do after being scared shitless in the middle of a forest in a Thursday morning. They decided to run for their very lives.

Two police officers, one of them named Berry, found them, the teens were almost run over by the police car while in their desperate run for the shouts.

They asked instantly for help, their descriptions of what happen a hour ago were closer of a savage beast hunting for them, likely a wolf, and they would be slaughtered if they didn’t run.

The police officers, especially Berry, a friend of her father and Ryan, were...skeptical to say the least, a wild wolf in Arcadia Bay? True, there were wolves in Oregon, but a lone wolf wouldn’t attack a couple of teens in a Thursday morning. That and the small fact that those teens were smelling of weed and beer, not exactly the ideal sort of statement, but their faces were nothing less of pure terror, whatever they did smoke or drink, that definitely had gone out of their system when they gave their frantic testimonies of the source of the screams...

That it wasn’t a _wolf_ , It was a _girl_.

Berry reported back to the police officers, but the story didn’t end there, the teens told their friends and parents, who told their friends, who told the friends of their friends, the story spread like wildfire, in one day, almost everybody heard about that girl’s screams.

But only on the third day did her parents and Chloe hear about it.

Combine that story with that kitchen knife with blood at the point...it wasn’t hard to start imagining.

The man and woman in the search group decided that they had to find Max one way or another, men started to get armed, women as well, the police officers tried to put control, but even they couldn’t contain for too long the outrage that people were feeling, what if their children were next? What if there was a serial killer? “There isn’t time to lose!” they said. “There is a fucking **psycho** here, and you fuckers are going to stand and watch?!” The panic was palpable for everybody.

Chloe did tell her parents that Max had to be fine, because she did leave messages behind, she even showed them those messages, whoever did scream, it couldn’t be Max, not if she was still leaving messages for them to see.

Which helped calm them, especially Vanessa and Ryan, who were stressed beyond belief, but relieved somewhat, since their daughter was (apparently) still safe and sound.

However, there was a problem, if Max was fine and was still leaving messages...then who was screaming that morning three days ago? And _why_ she was screaming?

_Who is this girl?_

 

* * *

 

  
Max

Three days waiting, three days thinking, three days, 72 hours…Max had more than enough time to think, when she was waiting to discover if she was right and she still had five years to wait, or if the apocalypse would come and end Arcadia Bay once and for all.

All because she _dared_ to care, _for_ _saving a life_ , for making use of her newfound abilities.

And not even for power, the first time she used her rewind, the very first time she discovered that she had an opportunity to use them. It was to save someone’s life, a girl she didn’t even _know_ at the first, yet it was her very first reason to use it, Max’s first instinct. _To protect._

But it was more than enough reason for some karmic bullshit, a twisted sense of justice, to come and bring a tornado ready to destroy a town full of innocent people, _you wanted to save your best friend Max? Of course, go ahead, oh, and by the way? A tornado must come and kill all of your other friends, and your best friend’s family too, because you know, we have to balance the scales? Chaos theory and all that? Can’t have everything right? Hope you learned your lesson._

The “right” thing to do, the “sane” thing to do would be to not interfere, to let her die, and let “destiny” play its hand, why risk it? Why risk everybody’s lives? She knew the cost, was she ready to condemn all those people to their deaths? All her friends? _Their parents?_ Would it even stop with a tornado? What if it didn't stop?

And that’s exactly what she would do, Max would turn the world into fucking glass for Chloe, she would do anything to keep her alive and happy, _anything,_ she only had to ask, but she wouldn’t give her away, not again, if she ever had to do it again, if she did let her die…she would follow her to the land of the dead, in heaven or hell, fuck it if it was for the greater good, what sort of greater good is that, what was left for Max of Chloe? Memories? Of this amazing girl that never got her chance of being happy again? Memories to kindly remind her what she had thrown away?

This was anything but _right_ , how condemning Chloe to dying alone and afraid, believing that nobody cared for her, _be right?_ _She said that those memories would be always ours...no Chloe, they will always be_ ** _mine_** _, you would never know that I was at your side, you would die in a bathroom, never knowing that I cared, that’s really fair right? You get killed in a bathroom, with everybody thinking you weren’t worth shit, while I live knowing that it was never true, that you are goddamn hero, yet you die alone, alone...alone because I let that happen, because your “best friend” was too much chickenshit to call you, to be at your side when you needed, or just jumped that stall and eat that bullet instead, what a great friend huh?_

_And if I didn’t do that, I would not only condemn hundreds of people to their deaths, I would be the reason for your mother’s death, and you would live thinking that it was all your fault, you would have to live with a monster at your side, you would live knowing that I decided to save your life, that I killed all of our friends and your parents with one choice. I would let our town being turned to fucking glass. All for you, but would you even stay at my side afterwards? Could you even forgive me?_

_Damned if you do, damned if you don’t._

_Is there some...lesson for me here? Maybe I didn’t look hard enough, let’s see, “You have to make hard choices?” “You have to sacrifice the things you love sometimes in your life?“ Or even better! “Don’t use time travel to save the people you care, or you gonna kill thousands of innocent people, because time travel is “wrong”, “unnatural” and “immoral.” ”_

_Good lessons, wasn’t there an easier way for me to learn that? Maybe one where I don’t need those powers and lose all my friends, for me to get the fucking point?_

Max was given a hand she never asked for, she seen enough to keep a psychiatrist in business for life, she almost died several times at Jefferson’s hand, the so called “visionary”, she watched several of her friends and innocent people die in a storm of her own making, she felt pain countless times, she saw Chloe die several times, she...she even _killed_ her, she either killed Chloe or left her behind, marking her last minutes in her alternative timeline one of betrayal or one of death…

The first day that Max heard Maxine claim that she wasn’t a nightmare and that she was _real,_ that she did exist in this alternative timeline, that her entire life was _destroyed_ by herself, she lost it, starting to shout like a maniac, she didn’t care if anyone heard her or not, either Max was losing her grasp with reality, and the more she used her powers, the more it would eventually destroy her mind and kill her or that nightmare was real and she has been killing parts of herself, for _the first time_ she revealed her power, there were dead Max’s everywhere, and she was still doing that, as long as she rewinded.

_How many Maxs Jefferson killed? How many of me died? How many of me will die? When I rewind again, will I lose another part of me? How I am still sane? I saw enough shit that would turn someone to the breaking point, all this rewinds, alternative realities, should I even be surprised?_

And Maxine just disappeared without a trace, and she left Max alone, no body, no blood, only guilt, it was just Max with a crushing guilt and a knife in her hand, until she threw it somewhere in the woods, she wouldn’t look for it.

The things she said to herself, it was a brutal form of honesty, one that only someone like Max Caulfield herself was capable of when she wanted, to hell with your feelings, but, could Max say she was wrong? How could she? If Maxine was right, _what right did you have to leave them all alone and run away with Chloe, leaving everything behind and try to live a fucking dream?_

Max would never be the same, she lost so much during that week, that girl of a week ago, that was hopeful, happy in her blissful ignorance, worrying only about the everyday boring problems of a normal girl, had she never got her powers, Chloe would have died alone, a tragic death, Nathan would probably be under arrest, and likely break and tell everything about what he did, Jefferson would get his just deserts and Max would live, regretting she never talked with Chloe again, but she would live, forever ignorant of a week that never was, wouldn't that be better than live through all this? Max had only one answer to that...

 **_It was all worth it,_ ** _I would do it all again, everything, I don't regret living that week._

Here she was standing at the lighthouse, dangerously close of the cliff, witnessing the sunset, it was like Arcadia Bay wasn’t capable of changing, at least, not the most magical and mystical aspects, even though everything in her life did.

_The golden hour, how many times have I witnessed it with you Chloe? Two? We could have more of those times together._

_Many more times…_

She was thinking about everything that happened in that week, was it really _wrong_ what she did?

_“You’ve just being delaying my real destiny…”_

_Your “destiny” is to die in a fucking bathroom alone?_

_“I think I should accept my fate...our fate...”_

_Fuck that, what sort of end is that? Your fate is bullshit, my fate includes you and everybody else alive and happy, That’s_ **_our fate_ ** _, and even if it isn’t_ , _I can...I_ **_will_ ** _make it so!_

In normal circumstances, all those lessons weren’t wrong, but those same lessons were moot when you have the powers of a _god_. She didn’t have to accept it.

_I didn’t ask for this, but with great powers comes great responsibility, a bullshit responsibility, but it’s my responsibility. I have been selfish, ready to take the easy choice, instead of taking the harder one._

_She could hear the whispers in the back of her head, maybe of the many Maxs she left behind, maybe even Maxine’s ghost? half of them saying. “You are not a hero.” And the other half saying “_ **_But you should be._ ** _”_

 _Yes, you are not a hero...but you could be one, you can be her hero, you can be everyone’s hero, why shouldn’t you? Because you are afraid? Why Max? Why are you still afraid?!_ **_Of what!?_ ** _Are you afraid of your powers or yourself? You saved Kate’s life! If you could do that, then why is using this power wrong?_

 _You risked everything for Chloe, and you are still alive, Max, you didn't just change her fate...you crushed it, You challenged time, you showed the finger to time and death itself, and you are still fucking alive! So why are you still so fucking afraid!? You saved them before!_ **_You! Not those powers_ ** _, you did that Max, no one else, you can save their lives, if only you tried._

_You saved Kate with the help of your powers, not because of them, you brought her with you alive without them, that could have killed you, but you didn't die, you were strong enough to do that, if you saved her without them, then why can't you save everybody else, everybody, we all deserve to live and be happy. You deserve to be happy too._

_Maybe I didn’t get those powers for a purpose, but I can give them one. Those powers didn't make me the person I am, it was Chloe and that week, everything I lived, everything I felt, all the sadness and the happiness, all those moments made me the woman standing here today._

_What would you have become if you didn't live throughout that week? Being the same shy hipster girl? Afraid of her own shadow? Someone who leaves her friends behind? A woman who doesn’t stand up for anybody or anything? You would never have known Chloe, you would have lived a life full of regrets, guilt and what ifs, what type of life is that?_

_No, that week changed me, but it turned me into something stronger, someone I can be proud of when looking into the mirror._

_This could be my chance to make a difference, someone once said “you either are destroyed by the things you see, or you are built anew.” I would rather believe I died that week, but something new has been reborn in the end of this, harder and stronger, I am not that weak girl of a week ago, I am Maxine fucking Caulfield, and I will be her hero, and I dare anyone to stop me!_

Her fears were still whispering behind her skull, “ _You might not make it…”_

_Yes, I might die trying, and everything would go to waste, but...what if it works? What if I can save Chloe and all my friends...what if? No, enough of what ifs. This is my hour._

_“Be the change you want to see?” You were right Victoria, it’s time to become the change._

She was going to risk it, Max wouldn’t settle with one life, even if all went wrong and it cost hers instead, she wouldn’t leave Chloe behind again, she wouldn’t leave anybody again, she wouldn’t live while one of them died, _either I save all of them or I will fall with the town._

Max looked at her right hand, the hand that changed everything, she was the girl that challenged death, time and storms, nothing would stop her from achieving her new purpose, her last mission to fulfill, only if death itself came and ended her life in person would she stop, even if it cost her mind, body and soul to achieve her dreams. To keep them safe and happy, it was a fair price. To keep Chloe happy and alive, it was a bargain.

Everything that happened that week, rather than destroy her, it made Max harder and stronger than ever before, more determined than ever before, her iron will didn’t shatter that night, it was rebuilt in steel.

_My purpose, my destiny, is making sure that all of our friends live or I will fall at their side, with everybody else in Arcadia Bay._

_It’s all or nothing._

Max had a destiny to fulfill, one of her own making. _It was my destiny to save you Chloe, you are my fate, you always were. It goes as far as you go._

_There is no other choice here, I won’t take another one, I can’t fail, I will not fail._

_Maxine, I don’t care if you aren’t real, you were real for me, I hope you are happy with her, whatever you are. And I hope you are watching too, because I will make sure that everything works this time, or I will fall with everybody here._

_But I won’t fail. So thank you...for giving yourself a chance._

At the distance, she could hear her fate calling.

“Max! stop hiding, you parents are staying! They won’t leave anymore!”

_Right on time Chloe, guess I scared my parents too much huh? Shit, maybe I took that too far? I could just have a talk with them, well, at least it worked anyway._

Max had to return now, she already knew that she had time, she had a destiny to fulfill and her fate was waiting. She was going to make it work, _but first, I need to rest, I didn’t sleep for three days. That and I want to enjoy my time with Chloe first._

“Where the hell are you!?”

She smiled at that thought, living five years again...how fucked up is that? Guess she was that fucked up, but it would be the best five years of her life.

“Oh man, that’s totally bullshit! Where the fuck are you?

At the side of the girl that meant everything for her, now she could show Chloe her friendship and love.

“Ugh! Max! I swear I am beating your ass when I find you, that’s so unfair! You get to have fun in the forest while I have to…” Chloe was ranting about being left behind and not having find her yet, _that’s so Chloe._

_I can fix my mistakes and live at the side of the girl that means the most to me, and give her the life that she deserved, that we deserved, what else could you have asked for?_

 

* * *

Chloe

She was seated on the bench looking towards the horizon, it was late already, the golden hour was ending now, and she had to return to her parents and tell them she didn’t find her yet, and search another day, even though she was supposed to come back today, but maybe she was already back?

“You are so full of shit Max.” At saying that Chloe heard a sound, it was one that could only be made by the pressing of the shutter of a camera, and if only to make sure she heard correctly...the sound of a polaroid being printed.

"What? Who... Max? _Max!_ Where are you!” She got up in an instant, looking through all sides for any sign of life, but there wasn’t anything.

"Max didn't show herself, but...Chloe definitely heard the sound of a flash, she wasn’t hearing things, she knew the sound of a polaroid camera.

She walked slowly, counting her steps, she hoped it was Max who took that shot, because if it wasn’t, then she was alone with someone, likely the girl from the woods…

“Chloe, you are being ridiculous, there isn’t a ghost here, it’s just a bunch of made up shit by a bunch of idiots, calm down.” she tried to reassure herself, it wasn’t working.

She saw a drawing on the lighthouse, it was hard to see, but it was definitely the drawing of a butterfly, _Max?_

The blondie got close to it and saw an arrow pointing down to a picture, it showed a pretty girl, sitting on a bench, seeing the sunset, with her beautiful strawberry blonde been touched by the light of the sunset, it was a beautiful shot, Chloe had to admit...of her.

_It is me, sitting on the bench, who? How?_

She turned the picture backwards, it had something written there with a pen, “Behind you?” she voiced aloud.

“Boo yah!” Max said.

“Ahh!” And Chloe squealed.

Chloe jumped a few feet and her face was a mix of pissed, angry, scared, surprised, it was a funny mix, one that she hoped Max wouldn’t take another picture for her wall collection.

“Hey Chlo, missed me?”

“You...you...you...”

“Yeah, that’s me, the one and only Max Caulfield, nice to meet you, did we met before?” Max asked with that shit eating grin in her face.

“Max!” Chloe hugged her, spinning her in circles, laughing, smashing Max with all her strength, “You are safe! I thought something had happen with you!”

“Chloe...can’t breathe...” Max was trying (not really) to get out of the bear-like embrace.

“Shhh, be quiet now.”

After a few moments of spins and laughs, Chloe finally put her in the ground, put her hands on her shoulders and asked her a very simple question...

"Why the fuck did you do that without me?!" She got direct at the point.

“I’m sorry?” Was Max’s sorry excuse for doing something so irresponsible, going to the woods alone.

“You could have gotten hurt without me to protect you! Never do that again, promise me.” Chloe demeaned her.

“Chloe…you don’t need to worry, I didn't get hurt and I am sorry, but I needed to convince my parents...”

“By running alone? You could have brought me along you know?” She hit her arm without mercy, to get her point across Max’s thick brunette head.

“Chloe stop!” Max was laughing while she tried to defend herself for the rightful small punches directed at her right arm. And after a few more thrown punches Chloe decided to show mercy.

“When did you parents teach you how to drive anyway? You totally could have told me.”

“They didn’t! I just...learned by myself?” Chloe didn’t believe one word.

“Liar.”

“No I am cereal, they never taught me.”

“You learned alone?”

“Kinda...”

She gave her a _very_ hard look at her, trying to see the lie behind it, Chloe would say what she thought about Max learning how to drive alone and not telling her best friend about it, but Max beat her to it.

“Chloe, I am sorry that I did that alone, and I promise from the bottom of my heart that I will never run away without you again, okay? Scout’s promise.”

She just looked at that tiny trickster, then she gave a good look at her nails, like there was something interesting with them that caught her attention and said without taking her eyes from them.

“You are forgetting one small detail.”

“Which one? I think I covered all of them in my letter, I even made sure you wouldn’t get in trouble, which you are welcome by the way.”

“You _promised_ that you would make up for that in your letter, remember?”

“Yes, I did, and I will, whatever you want, I will do it.”

Chloe just looked back at her and smirked. “Teach me how to drive, then I will let that slide.”

“Yeah right, you have a car we can borrow?”   

“That’s no excuse, you gotta teach me! That’s only fair Max, I always wanted to drive, it would be awesome, driving through the streets, the wind in my hair, with the sea at my side.”

“You want a car or you want a boat?” Max asked without losing her smile.

“Both, we gonna get both Max. You have to teach me, or you want me to crash my new car against a wall?” She grinned at the question “And if you ask me nicely. Maybe I will let you drive my new kickass car, and you can even help me choose the color, I love blue but I know you love red and pink too, so maybe a red one? I didn’t really decide yet, but what you think Max? A blue truck or a...Max? You okay dude?”

Max looked very pale for a moment, like she literally saw a ghost...or something else.

“Hey...Max? You don’t look good, come on, you need water? Maybe something to eat? When was the last time you ate anyway?”

Max just shocked herself out of her mini stupor and said quickly.

“Yeah, totally, huh...maybe you are right...I will teach you when your dad gives you one, I promise.”

“Cool, I don't think he is going to give me one, but, huh...Max? No offence but, you look way too pale, and your eyes are huh, dark.” That was indeed true, now that she mentioned and gave a good look on her, Max looked like she didn’t sleep for _days,_ almost like a zombie.

“I am just a bit tired you know? All that running.”

_That is true, she must be exhausted, don’t worry Max, I am gonna take care of you now._

“Then the best solution to tiredness, is sleeping in our room, watching some movies, eat tons of popcorn and drinking coke, let our parents cuddle and spoil you, and then we are going to play, what you think? All recommended by doctor Price herself.”

“Perfect.” Chloe didn’t know why, but it felt like Max wanted to say something more.

“Max, come on, what are so worried about?”

“It’s no big deal...just that my parents must be pissed with me.”

“Nah, they will be happy to see you, and I will take the blame, don’t worry about it.”

“No, I did it alone and you know it, you are not taking the blame for that, alright?”

“Max, that’s no biggie, Ryan and Vanessa…”

“You are not taking the blame.”

“And you are not the boss of me, if I want to take the blame, I will.”

And they started a full discussion about who would take the blame, neither girl would yield, they were too protective of each other do so, they finally came to the conclusion that the only way to get this resolved this evening, would be with both taking the blame (even though Max kept muttering about how much that was bull).

They eventually settled with sharing the punishment and Chloe started to talk about her grand escape.

 

“That’s was so crazy Max, you parents totally freaked out when they saw you driving, I freaked too! That’s was sooo cool, and that letter, I am still laughing my ass off! You know, I am thinking, how many P.S can a person write?”

 

They were going through the path back, Chloe knew where their parents were, while they were walking back, with Chloe with an arm on Max’s shoulder, and Max with her hand in her waist, Chloe explained what was happening while she was out, the knife story, the girl from the woods (is that really how they are gonna name Arcadia Bay’s first urban legend?)

 

“Chloe, there isn’t a serial killer in Arcadia Bay.”

“How do you know? There was a knife for your information, or maybe you are the one doing the hits?” She asked with a grin.

“Please, could you really see me doing something like that?

“I don’t know, I never imagined that my best friend would steal her father’s car just to stay with me. Which was awesome by the way.” She gave her a bump with her side to emphasize how much that meant for her.

“I aim to please. But seriously, there are no stories of serial killers here, besides, there aren’t even stories of people missing recently, the last one was years ago.“

“That’s what mom said, but nobody heard anyway, people are dumb like that.”

“So...about this ghost girl?”

“It’s a weird story, but it’s just a dumb one, don’t worry Max, I got you, you will always be safe with me.”

“My hero.”

“You know it sista.”

“I do...” They were quiet for a few minutes, until Chloe felt the need to tell Max something.

“Max...I...I wanted to, huh, damn, I really suck at words, but...I wanted to thank you.”

“For what? For running away? You would do the same for me.”

“I know, totally but...you stole your dad’s car keys, made a run for it for days, you did all of that, just...just to stay with me, I...”

“Chloe, I would do anything for you.”

“I know, I would do anything for you too Max, I just wanted to say...you are so awesome!” She hugged her again, she didn’t know why she was being so mushy, but it felt right to say those things to her. _She runned away just to stay with me, how can this be anything but destiny? We are destined to be together, how can we be without each other now? We are bonded for life._

“Chloe...there isn’t a Maxaroni without her cheese.”

“Oh my god, that was so fucking cheesy.”

“I learned with the best.”

“You’re a such a dork.”

“The dork, dork.”

They were both smiling, and laughing, in the first time in that week, Max and Chloe didn’t feel afraid anymore, as long as they had each other, they would always have a reason to smile.

 

* * *

 

Chloe's diary

 

### Saturday, October 12

 

Hellooo dear diary! I know, I look strangely too happy don’t I? Guess what? Max is back! That’s so fucking great! Man, after days looking for her, that little ninja finally showed up, after scaring the shit out of me of course, because she is an ass XD

I was sooo worried, but I didn’t even need to, she was okay, well...aside from looking like a total zombie, a small scraps here or there, and a strange cut in her neck, but that’s was barely a cut, I thought a bug had bitten her until Mom gave a closer look and asked her how she even got that, Max told us she doesn’t really know, but I think she just scraped herself in some branch or something.

Anyway, she was worried that her parents would be angry and punish her or something. Yeah right! Ryan would never do that, he is too much of a sweetheart, just like dad :)  

But I wasn’t sure if Vanessa wasn’t going to give her one hella scolding, which is why I told her that I would totally take the blame, and of course she started to become all worked out, saying that this was bullshit, that I didn’t have to take the blame, we started arguing until we decided that we both would take the blame, that’s what best friends are for amiright? Getting themselves in trouble, stealing her father’s cars...

And when Vanessa and Ryan saw us with my parents, Vanessa was the first to run straight at us and hug us both, Max was crying, saying how sorry she was for everything, that she loves them so much, and they said that they were sorry too for not talking with her first or for even suggesting that idea in the first place. Everybody started to cry, I even saw mom crying too (happy tears of course) but I was just kinda embarrassed of being in the middle.  I told Max she didn’t have to worry.

After Vanessa and Ryan stopped choking her with hugs and kisses, Vanessa started thanking everybody who helped, Ryan was shaking the hand of everybody, they even thanked me! And everybody started to applaud me and cheer! But I don’t know why, I didn’t do anything really, Max just showed herself, I didn’t do anything special, that doesn’t mean I don’t like it though ^^

Dad and mom even said they were so proud of me, I just don’t get it why, but well, I guess I did help?

A police officer then came asking if they could talk with Max, wanting to know if she saw something, really??? We just fucking found her dude! Give her a time to rest, Max said she didn’t see anything strange, but he still kept asking her though, if she heard some screams three days ago, and she was starting to stuttering a bit, she was probably nervous of being _interrogated,_ I was going to tell him to fuck off. But Vanessa really smacked his ass down, that was an epic win! She said (in a very scary tone) to him to leave her little girl alone, _now,_ Ness rules, and she can be scary when she wants too, Ryan even said joking, “It’s the woman that rules the house” Hella yes we do!

Hella...funny, I kinda like that word, I think I am going to use it for now on, well, Max always uses wowser and cereal for like, ever, it’s time for me to have my own cool catch phrases.

One of the members of our search group was a doctor, I think he was 70 years old? He asked Ryan if he could give a look on her, he was nice, very cool too, you know that type of old man, that would totally kick your ass in a one on one, or that type that when he gives you a glare, you would start shiting kittens? He was that type of old man. He told us he was a medic and that he kicked some asses in Vietnam, that is so cool, bet he has some neat stories to tell.

He said Max was definitely with sleep deprivation, which means she can’t sleep because she is way too stressed with everything that happened this past days, that and the forest must be really fucking scary at night, and this weird as fuck stories of a ghost girl surrounding the woods, I think that’s really stupid, but...there was a knife here and they did say something about those screams, even I am scared, I tried to play the tough girl (which I am btw) but I was scared too, who wouldn’t? I mean, who screams in a thursday morning right?   

But that doesn’t matter anymore, cause Mad Max is back! She is sleeping now in my bed, Max wanted to stay at our house to sleep, she got no arguments and her parents agreed, dad is going to make is famous hamburgers (with mom’s help) for us when we wake up in the sunday morning, they are talking downstairs with Vanessa and Ryan about everything, so I am here watching Max, seeing if she needs anything, but I am tired too, so I am gonna sleep with her and when we wake up we will make a movie marathon! And so much more, we got to enjoy our sunday.

I never thought Max would run away like a total boss! That was so awesome, I am still pissed that she did that without me, and that she never told me she could drive a car, but Max said that she never learned how to drive before, that it was just...instinct? I don’t care, now she has to teach me too, so I can do my own badass moves, she did promise to teach me when dad gives me a car, which I don’t know when! ⋋_⋌ ⋋_⋌ ⋋_⋌

Worse, Max could have got hurt without me, she can’t do that type of shit alone, even though it was very badass, she got me worried, but thank god she is okay, Max just needs to rest, and now that her parents are staying, we got nothing to worry about it anymore.    

We got our own happy ending, even better than the movies, and we gonna live together like this, forever.

Just the two of us...

  



End file.
